The cartoonist's big book of drawing animals

Gr 2-6-In this follow-up to How to Draw Cartoon Animals (Watson-Guptill, 1995), Hart shows young artists how to draw an impressive array of creatures. He includes many different animals, such as bears, penguins, horses, dogs, and cats, as well as a variety of breeds. In the introduction, Hart explains that this book includes edgier styles and more retro characters than his first book. The step-by-step, black-and-white outlines are accessible to beginning artists as well as those with more experience. The humorous and engaging characters include different cartoon "types" such as the evil genius or ultra-cute kitten, and there is a wide range of facial expressions as well. The simple text that accompanies each drawing explains the artist's choices and focuses readers' attention on important details in each drawing. Children will love this thorough and easy-to-use how-to guide.-Mari Pongkhamsing, St. Perpetua School, Lafayette, CA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Well, for a penguin, it doesn't take much to bundle up for a snowstorm. But even a mother penguin is known to nudge her child to wear a hat! While you can create a variety of penguin characters, there is one caveat: Penguins have to be cute! Even if you're drawing evil penguins, they have to be cute-evil. It's a rule. If you break it, you'll get hate mail from penguin lovers all over the world. Here's an important hint that is sure to make them look cute: Penguins have almost no legs! Their bodies are basically plopped down on their large flat feet. They're all tummy! This gives them a stubby, adorable look, even though they've got a long torso, because the torso is always abruptly cut off at the feet. Excerpted from The Cartoonist's Big Book of Drawing Animals by Christopher Hart All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.