When you think about geography, art or literature (or even other subjects…we have connections!) is there anything that you think to yourself, “I’d really like to see something like that” or “I wish I could find a book like that.”
You may not know this, but Kristin’s geography series was born from need. She always wanted something like that for our son, couldn’t find it, so she published Draw the USA. We had no idea that book would become so popular and when it did she got the idea for the Draw the World series.
We’ve been thinking about several things:
- Map books for individual states. These would include drawing the state and content like our wonders books (mountains, lakes, rivers, cities, etc). Color or black and white? The advantage of black and white is it is much cheaper, but the color sure looks better. Any thoughts?
- If we did individual states…would you buy a state other than the one you live in?
- Downloads. Do you buy pdf downloads? We’ve done this in the past (these are free now) and never sold any. There are pdf downloads for our literature books. What about art forgeries, games, timelines, drawings, etc. in a download format? The advantage is cost. We can sell them inexpensively, but we have noticed there doesn’t seem to be much of a demand for downloads, at least our downloads. Is it because they are too hands on (i.e. you have print them and waste ink), content is not what you’re looking for or you just never buy PDF downloads?
- We’re also trying to think of inexpensive things to do. We know the economy and the last 4 years has hit a lot of people hard. We’re wondering about short black and white books about art, geography, literature, etc. If the book is short enough and in black and white…we can sell it for $4.99. Is that appealing? For color the same book would be $9.99. These are paperback versions.
- For literature, are there any titles you’d love to see us do for Literature Disguised as Fun series?
If you are interested we’d love to hear your thoughts about any this and any of your own ideas in the comments below or email us at info@artk12.com.
Thanks. We truly appreciate the support over the years and we’ll continue to work hard to put out quality content for your students.
From a newsletter subscriber:
Yes to books and yes to we would buy states other than the one we reside in. PDF’s are ok, but we prefer books.
We love your drawing the states series. We have them all!!!!
Thanks for this! Appreciate it. We prefer books too, but worry a little about the cost as things keep going up.
From a Subscriber:
We are no longer in Classical Conversations, but the 7th graders in the program are tasked to draw the world freehand labeling all the countries, capitals and major features. CC (in my opinion) does not give adequate guidance to make this doable along side all their other work in one year.
This can be a strand where kids can take a lot of ownership and independence. Your current books do that beautifully. Unfortunately when it comes to putting the hemispheres together and then the whole world it is quite challenging. I have had two kids who have done it… And they are able to do it, but I think it would be much less stressful if you could give guidance on how to fit your maps together.
They are required to know the provinces and states and each of the capitals, but I did that as a separate project because it is unreasonable to fit that on the world map. I had my kids draw Canada and the United States just as countries for their world map.
I know the people who use your books for CC would totally buy a book, or a PDF. Many many families are already investing in the series. I think if there were directions on how to put it all together with the equator, the prime meridian, and perhaps just a few other lat/long lines on a large size of paper, that would be amazing.
The order they learn them in is Canada, USA, Mexico & Central America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania.
If you were really ambitious, a you could include each finished continent from your book with the major features. Since you already have the maps done this would probably not be terribly difficult. They have a list of the required features.
Just my two cents!
C.
PS, they also have to draw the major systems of the body, that is definitely easier, but it would be amazing if there was a step by step along with what each part does and/or how all the parts work together to perform the system’s job in the body. My thought is that when they are finished with a book/pdf resource they could not only draw the system, but talk through the parts and system with decent understanding. So maybe there would be small talking points to help them on each page with the shapes etc. like you do in the geography.
Thank you. This is very helpful.
Putting it all together is problematic….something Kristin didn’t think about initially. She did address that here:
https://artk12.com/putting-it-all-together/
But it’s not an easy task. We will definitely talk about this.
I love the body idea…..have to think about that too.
Thanks so much for putting so much time into this.
Really appreciate it.
From a newsletter subscriber:
We have loved using the Draw the World art series in our homeschool for years now. I have recommended them several times through the years! Thanks for asking for our input!
Personally, we would use a state book for our state (KY). I also think it would be neat to have one that shows us how to draw all the counties in our state.
I love color editions and wouldn’t mind paying extra for it.
I never buy pdf’s. Don’t ask me why. I just don’t like them.
I have not purchased but have recently looked at the Literature Disguised as Fun series. I am interested in using these with my 2nd & 4th graders. I will get back to you on titles.
Thanks, really appreciate the feedback!
Counties is a good idea on the single map books.
From a newsletter subscriber:
We do personally prefer literature titles that do not contain magic, mythology, or witchcraft. We are fine with fairy tales and fiction as long as they do not contain these.
Thanks!
Kristin and I both love mythology, but I don’t think any of the lit books currently contain that.
Just for reference…would Jack and the Beanstalk be off limits for you because of the “magic beans”? Or would that be okay because it’s considered a Fairy Tale?
The main thing I consider when choosing books is: are they considered classics? And, do I like them? :-)
From the newsletter Subscriber:
I think I’m going to try Jack and the Beanstalk. I don’t appreciate magic “spells” but I might be able to handle magic beans, haha.
I’m completely obsessed with your Draw books. I use it in our homeschool every day and my kids have such a good grasp on geography because of these books. I often think , I wish Kristen would do a human body book…like how to draw the heart, brain, lungs, etc, so we could really learn about the form and function about how the body works!! There’s nothing like learning how the heart works through drawing it every day!! Just a thought. I don’t know how much research or work it would take to write that book.
I love your series and I have my kids geography drawings hung in my house and people are always asking about them so then I’m recommending your books to everyone I know. Hands down the best way to learn geography ever!
I like physical books that i can buy.
Yes, someone else mentioned a Draw the Body book. We have already been talking about it. We think it’s a great idea. We were thinking that throughout the book you would draw the whole body, but for some organs after you drew them in the body, for example the heart, then you’d draw a more detailed version of the heart. What are your thoughts on this?
From a newsletter subscriber:
with an add on of capitals, mountains and rivers and details that aren’t in the Draw the USA book.
Thank you for such great resources. My kids know more geography than I do and can follow with the news because of it. It’s been a sweet journey watching them apply what they’ve learned.
Thanks so much for responding. The regional idea is an interesting one. We will discuss….50 state books would get pricey.
A couple people have suggested a draw the body book: organs, etc.
Any thoughts on that?
We have thought about black and white….it would halve the price to 9.99….we’re a little afraid it might get confusing…the way Amazon is set up it would have to be separate book.
What if we did a black and white version that contained all nine books? Any thoughts on that?