Michelangelo for Kids (Chicago Press Review, 2016) is a little outside of my usual review fare, but it has several qualities that excited me to review it.
- First, I love art, and have a special interest in Michelangelo. After all, Michelangelo’s extraordinary life falls within the period of the Reformation, overlapping with both Girolamo Savonarola of Florence and Martin Luther of Germany.
- Second, the biography / activities book is written by Simonetta Carr, author of the lovely Christian Biographies for Young Readers series.
- Third, the Chicago Press Review “For Kids” series is fabulous for 4th-8th grade, and we use the books regularly as a part of our history studies.
Michelangelo for Kids
I loved reading Michelangelo for Kids. I learned a lot about Michelangelo and his work. Though I majored in art, and in the last few years I read quite a bit about Michelangelo in scholarly biographies of Martin Luther while researching for When Lightning Struck! (and later for the Who What Why Reformation series), there was much I didn’t know.
Simonetta Carr does a masterful job of explaining how Michelangelo’s faith changed due to the Reformation, and how he was able to work directly for several popes while creating artwork that challenged papal ideas of Christ and Scripture. She also diplomatically addresses his family and personal life, answering the modern-day charges of impropriety with logic and care.
I think it’s rare to find an art history book for young people that addresses the faith and relationships of an artist with such care and such attention. Kids will have a clear picture of who Michelangelo was and how his personal life affected his artwork. The work of Michelangelo was quite revolutionary religiously, and was an integral part of the Renaissance. Carr mentions the pagan images created by Michelangelo for patrons, but focuses on his Christian work and images.
Artist Study
Michelango for Kids is 130-pages, with 110 devoted to the text. The end of the book includes acknowledgements, a glossary, key figures, resources to explore, notes, a bibliography, and an index. There are 8 chapters that move sequentially through Michelangelo’s life. The first 5 chapters each contain 4-5 wonderfully inventive and doable projects. The last 3 chapters contain 1-2 projects and are smaller in size.
To divide the book into a 12-week study, I suggest spending two weeks on each of the first 5 chapters, and using the last 3 chapters over a 2-week period of time.
The text of each chapter is broken into sub-sections with lots of images and sidebars. The pages of the book are thick and glossy, the writing is engaging (and not at all condescending), and the images are fascinating.
A note about nudity: Michelangelo’s work contained a good deal of male nudity. There is also one picture (that I noticed) which contains a statue with the bared top of a female figure. If nudity is offensive, there are several ways we deal with it here. For art books I wish to preserve in their entirety, I usually cut an index card (because they’re thick) to cover the offending area and tape it on with clear tape. Especially on glossy pages, I can usually remove the tape and card later if I choose to do so. I personally feel like it would be a pity for kids to miss out on artwork due to modesty issues, but I also feel strongly about modesty issues. The index cards are an easy solution for me.
Michelangelo for Kids is a wonderful resource. This is a great artist study for kids ages 9-14!
Purchase Michelangelo for Kids
I want to thank Chicago Review Press for providing a review copy of Michelangelo for Kids.
More books by Simonetta Carr
Learn more about the Who What Why series and get your FREE Abolition Lapbooks here.
Bible Resources for Your Kids
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Christian Biographies for Kids | Christian History for Kids | Theology for Kids
Christian History Matters for Our Kids.
History matters. Now, more than ever, we see how important it is for our children to know and understand history and the Bible.
Here’s why:
- God is the sovereign ruler of all things. It’s important for our kids to see his hand in the history of nations and in the lives of both peasants and kings.
- Christian history is the story of our family history. Our kids get to see how people who love Jesus follow him.
- Understanding history can help our kids learn historic and biblical theology. They learn what the Bible says and what that means for us. They also see when the study of Scripture has taken important turns that have changed the Church.
- Reading Christian biographies and history can be a wonderful way for kids to think outside their own time and culture. God’s Church spans centuries and includes people from every nation.
- Christian biographies help kids consider their own faith, walk with Jesus, and the impact their witness may one day have on others–and on history.
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