Friday, January 7, 2011

Here Comes Jack Frost


Here Comes Jack Frost by Kazuno Kohara is a fun, wintry book.  The main character is a young boy who is lonely because all of his friends are hibernating.  Just when he thinks that he hates winter, Jack Frost appears and they have a great time playing in the snow and ice.  Jack Frost warns the boy that he must never mention anything warm in his presence or Jack will have to leave.  I'll let you read the book to find out what happens!

We first discovered Kazuno Kohara when we read Ghosts in the House.  R loved (and still loves) this book and it was one of the first times that she asked to create art based on a book we read.  Kohara's illustrations are simple and yet fantastic.  I love the use of just a few colors throughout a book. 


R was only three in this photo; now, she is going to be five in a few months!

Well, we were equally impressed with the illustrations in Here Comes Jack Frost.  Again, most of the book is just two colors, blue and white, with a couple of black and gray illustrations in the beginning to depict the character's sadness.  So, we just had to create some art.  


I got a head start on this project by creating masking tape trees on white card stock.  When C came home from school, he and R painted their papers blue.


When the paint was dry, I carefully peeled off the masking tape and we now have two beautiful, winter trees.



I love books that inspire art!

16 comments:

Elizabeth Lyng said...

Wow, another great project I'll have to try very soon!

Anonymous said...

Beautiful!! I love how these turned out!

Nicole {tired, need sleep} said...

Love the artwork - it's really beautiful! That sounds like a book and project that Matthew would really enjoy. Can you tell me if the book ends in a sad way? Any thing sad or scary can leave Matthew upset for an hour (ugh). Maybe I'll just check it out and read it first. :)

Nicole {tired, need sleep} said...

Love the artwork - it's really beautiful! That sounds like a book and project that Matthew would really enjoy. Can you tell me if the book ends in a sad way? Any thing sad or scary can leave Matthew upset for an hour (ugh). Maybe I'll just check it out and read it first. :)

Christy Killoran said...

@Nicole - It's not sad or scary at all. At the end of the book, the boy finds a snowdrop and tells Jack Frost that spring is coming. The mention of spring makes Jack Frost disappear but the boy hears him whisper, "see you next winter". I think you will like the book.

MaryAnne said...

You picked the perfect art project for this book, and their trees are beautiful!

Ticia said...

I need to try the masking tape painting. I bet my kids would love it, but I never remember to try once we're painting.

Natalie PlanetSmarty said...

This book looks beautiful, and the masking tape art sounds like a perfect choice. R does look a lot older in her current picture - she looks almost as old as C there.

Miller Moments said...

Love this! And so easy too. And of course another great book to add to my list.

SnoopyGirl said...

Great project! I love mixing storybooks and art or food. I am now following your blog! I love all your creative ideas!

Brimful Curiosities said...

You beat me to it...working on a project for this book right now, hopefully for next week's stArt.

Jenny said...

Great project for the book! Back to the library website....

An Almost Unschooling Mom said...

Terrific! I put more books on hold after seeing them here :)

momandkiddo said...

I just love resist painting, and this is a lovely idea.

Anonymous said...

This looks like a wonderful book. I love their art project too. I think resist painting is such a neat thing for kids.

April said...

I remember that I put the "Ghosts in the House" on hold around Halloween time but I didn't get it in time so I just cancelled the hold. It was when I was doing some open art projects with simple color schemes inspired by books. I haven't seen this book, looks good though.