It takes a certain combination of illustrations and story to create a book that’s perfect for the art room. Art teachers have little time to spend on a lengthy picture book or artist biography.

Instead, we want to captivate, inspire and share knowledge of art to our students with a quick, yet enriching read.

You are no doubt familiar with Peter Reynold’s Dot Day picture book that has inspired the Dot Day Art Movement, but here are a couple of other titles that you can add to your Dot Day repertoire.

Sonia Delaunay: A Life of Color by Cara Manes is a beautiful exploration of the artist, who with her husband, created the Orphism Art Movement. And there are plenty of dots in this book that take the shape of concentric and radial circles.

If you love paper cutting and bold, bright colors, Sonia Delaunay is a great artist to introduce to students. And this book does the job brilliantly leaving just the art-making up to you!

For a few more book suggestions, I create a My Favorite Art Books video walking you through my favorite new art book finds this year.

Here is the list of these exquisite books I referenced in the video. Any one of these books can be transformed into an art lesson with just a few basic art supplies.

And I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to dive in and create a few!

Great Art Picture Books for the Art Room

• Portrait of an Artist: Vincent Van Gogh: Discover the Artist Behind the Masterpieces by Lucy Brownridge

• Bob the Artist by Marion Deuchars

• Hi, Konnichiwa: Yayoi Kusama Art Book by Yayoi Kusama

• Through the Window: Views of Marc Chagall’s Life and Art by Barb Rosenstock

• Dancing Through Fields of Color: The Story of Helen Frankenthaler by Elizabeth Brown

• Yayoi Kusama: From Here to Infinity! by Sarah Suzuki

• Sonia Delaunay: A Life of Color by Cara Manes

• The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds

Looking for more art book suggestions? Take a look at this Deep Space Sparkle picture book reviews HERE.