The Boy Who Loved to Draw: Benjamin West by Barbara Brenner

This is a sweet and interesting biography of the childhood of Benjamin West, who is often called the Father of American art.

I read this to my class on Friday while they were drawing and they loved it. I didn’t hear a peep throughout the entire story. Although the illustrations are beautiful, they were not looking at the illustrations because they were busy drawing; it was the narrative alone that interested them.

However, I did show them the picture of Benjamin’s poor scruffy cat after he had clipped dozens of brushes worth of fur from his backside. I also showed them the photos included in the back of the book that display a couple of West’s paintings from his childhood and they were amazed at his early talent.

All in all a good book, though I’m afraid it’s going out of print—I hope not; I have used this book for years.