Why on earth don't they have a picture of this book? It's pretty! Oh, well.

Sonny and I are reading this, too. It's exactly what its subtitle calls it: a complete introduction for beginners. It's a good-quality hardcover and has a nice heft without being unwieldy. It lays out the basics of what to look for in art (mostly paintings), which this non-visual reader really appreciates. It also gives a lot of historical context for art -- how the Catholic-Protestant split impacted art in northern and southern Europe, for instance. I wish there were a little more of that sometimes. I know this means I'm an official moron, but telling me about 17-century art in "the newly independent Dutch Republic" (without telling me what they're newly independent from) only reminds me I'm stupid while doing nothing toward a cure.

Nevertheless, I highly recommend this book. My 14yo son started off in our reading with a strong sense that he found art boring; we're not even halfway through the book, and he doesn't think that any more. ( )