The Boy Who Loved To Draw

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The Boy Who Loved to Draw by Barbara Brenner recounts the childhood of Benjamin West. Benjamin grew up in a large Quaker family in Pennsylvania and became a reknown painter and personal friend of King George the Third.

In short chapters, well illustrated with colonial style paintings, Benjamin's gift of art and his struggle to acquire the needed tools are described.

Since my children love to paint and mix paint colors together to create new colors, they especially enjoyed learning how Benjamin acquired his paints. And what boy can't love the idea of clipping their cat's hair to make a paint brush!

I liked the friendly interaction of the Indians - and true impression of the early days of the Pennsylvania settlement and the peace between the Quakers and the native Americans.

The Boy Who Loved to Draw ends with a brief account of his career in painting and a photos of a few of his paintings. Highly recommended book to introduce your child to the man known as the Father of American art.