Books published by publisher Prestel

A fun-filled way to learn about architectural history, this activity book allows young readers to build their own structures using simple but classic shapes and designs. Want to make an ionic column? How about a cathedral with flying buttresses? Or a mishmash of frills, domes, pillars and arches that could only exist in your imagination? With more than 200 stickers that reflect every important era of architectural history, this book encourages children to create buildings that can be historically accurate or completely whimsical. Along the way it tells the story of architecture as we know it―from ancient Greece through the modern era―and offers the elements of different styles and structures. A hands on learning experience, this delightful book shows children how architecture works and how it has evolved over time.

Big art for little hands, this enchanting activity book allows young artists to explore the world's masterpieces on their own terms and with plenty of space to color outside the lines. This delightful coloring book introduces children to one of the world's most celebrated artists, Sandro Botticelli. Best known for The Birth of Venus and Primavera, Botticelli is one of the most admired artists of the Renaissance period. He used line and color to gorgeous effect, creating some of the most beloved and familiar images of all time. Brimming with beautiful illustrations of Botticelli’s masterpieces, this engaging activity book will inspire learning and creativity in children and will encourage young readers to make their own Botticelli-like creations.

Filled with stunning color reproductions, this vibrant book introduces young readers to artistic masterpieces by engaging their curiosity and sense of play. Finding and naming colors and objects is an exciting learning activity for young children, and what better way to teach them than through art? This ingenious book employs great works of art from a variety of genres and periods to ask children engaging questions. Children are invited to play “I Spy” with colors and objects in a medieval tapestry, a Renaissance mural, an aboriginal work from Australia, and a painting by Hieronymus Bosch. In addition, each artwork is accompanied by a brief description for older readers. Filled with glorious color, this introduction to important works will set the stage for a greater appreciation of art in later years.

This delightful introduction to the inventions of Leonardo da Vinci teaches young readers about the painstaking but rewarding art of design and discovery. George the sheep is happy living outside in his meadow except for one thing: when it rains, he shrinks to the size of a mouse; when the sun comes out he grows enormous. Befuddled, his owner Leon sets out to find a way to shelter George from the rain. A huge set of bat wings to dry his fur? A wheeled chariot to keep out the wet? Finally he alights on the perfect solution―a large umbrella. But when the wind plays havoc with this contraption Leon must put pencil to paper once again to come up with a solution. Through careful measuring, sketching, and a truly indefatigable spirit, Leon, like his fifteenth-century namesake, solves the kinds of problems that have challenged inventors throughout history. Cleverly invoking the mechanical genius of Leonardo da Vinci, this delightful children’s book explores the art of invention through illustrations and an entertaining story.

This delightful and engaging introduction to the history of art for children comes in a beautiful oversized format and features intricate illustrations with hidden details. Children love to pore over detailed illustrations, especially when they contain hidden elements for them to find. This endlessly entertaining book opens up entire historic periods to young readers in double page spreads that are teeming with life and meticulously drawn to teach them about artistic traditions. Each spread represents a moment in history, capturing how art wasintegrated into daily life and illustrating contemporary styles,tools, and mediums. Children will learn about cave paintingsand what humans used for light and why they painted so manyanimals and hunting scenes. They’ll find themselves in AncientGreece, where deities watch over a busy marketplace in frontof the Parthenon. A cross-section of a medieval monastery,Leonardo’s workshop, and a collection of 19th-century artistspainting in nature are just a few more of the examples, whichtake readers through to the present day. Featuring additionalinformation including facts and anecdotes that enhance theexperience of learning, a book to turn to again and again,Where’s the Artist? provides an ingenious and beautifullyexecuted tutorial on art history that will captivate children ofany age.

This book imaginatively evokes one of Anselm Kiefer's most significant exhibitions with magnificent reproductions of a provocative body of work representing his key themes, styles, and mediums. Employing a dazzling variety of mediums, including painting, sculpture, and photography, Kiefer's monumental installation, captured in this sumptuous oversize volume, manifests an array of cultural myths and metaphors, from the Old and New Testaments to the Kabbalah, from ancient Roman history to the poetry of Ingeborg Bachmann and Paul Célan. Fusing art and literature, painting and sculpture, Kiefer engages the complex events of history, the ancestral epics of life, death, and the cosmos, and the fragile endurance of the sacred and the spiritual amid the ongoing destruction of the world. The illustrations in the book are preceded by a thoughtful text by the novelist and cultural historian Marina Warner, and the book concludes with a translation of Kiefer's acceptance speech for the 2008 Peac

Two decades after the structure's appearance in the courtyard of the Louvre, this book tells the story of I. M. Pei s pyramid, from its conception and original designs to its construction and finished state. I. M. Pei's glittering addition to the Louvre Museum in Paris has already become an iconic emblem of France's past and future. It is as immediately recognizable as the Eiffel Tower and as mysterious as the Egyptian pyramids it references. This book looks at the Louvre pyramid, beginning with the earliest sketches by Pei and his lead design architect, Yann Weymouth, and includes photographs of the entire construction process. It contains details about the unique engineering and architectural considerations-from the pyramid's highly polished glass to its intricate system of girders and cables. This volume also features a preface by the architect himself.

Big art for little hands, this enchanting activity book allows young artists to explore the world’s masterpieces on their own terms and with plenty of space to color outside the lines. This delightful coloring book introduces children to one of the world’s most celebrated printmakers, Hokusai. His series Thirtysix Views of Mount Fuji includes some of the most recognizable images in the world, including The Great Wave off Kanagawa. The Japanese artist is especially appealing to children, who will marvel at his enchanting landscapes and still lifes. This engaging activity book will inspire learning and creativity in children, and will encourage young readers to make their own Hokusai-like creations.

This fun and educational journey through art history shows young readers how the materials artists use in their work have evolved over the centuries, around the world. The earliest artists wielded bones, pieces of ivory, and wooden sticks to create works that tell us much about how ancient civilizations lived and thought. Today artists are using found objects to make elaborate pieces that are equally revealing. Aimed at young readers, this fascinating book focuses on 13 kinds of artistic materials to trace the development of artistic expression throughout history. Illustrated spreads explore how precious metals and gems were used by ancient Egyptian artisans and how Greek sculptors created beautiful vessels out of clay. It reveals the importance of cast metals to the Romans, and glass to the builders of Gothic cathedrals and Byzantine mosaics. The book also shows how the same materials were used by artists centuries apart: paper as parchment for illuminated manuscripts but also for artist books. Chapters explore the intriguing histories of paint and drawing, ranging from ground pigment to acrylic and from charcoal sticks to pen and ink. Along the way readers will become familiar with celebrated and lesser-known works of art and the people who created them. Informative and entertaining, this latest addition to the 13 Children Should Know series for children reveals how resourcefulness and ingenuity are the artist’s most precious tools.