A Whole World of Art

This beautifully illustrated book seeks to tell children the true, diverse and decolonised story of art around the world. Even before they could write, people were telling stories with pictures. And though art is universal, the story we know about it is not. A Whole World of Art opens your eyes to a global view of art by taking you on a whirlwind tour around the world and through time.

With two companions - a boy and a girl - travel through 5 destinations from the history of art, circling the globe. As they travel, they explore the rich visual canon from each culture they visit through looking at different key works and examining the lives of the artists who created them.

Each spread shows a stunning, edge-to-edge illustrated scene from art history portraying an artist or artists making important artwork within a detailed background. A paragraph of introductory text and small captions around the page give fascinating details about the artists and the time and place in which they lived. Art project ideas provide inspiration throughout.

Visit: Athens, Greece (450 BCE), where you will marvel at the gleaming gold statues and marble architecture; The Ming Dynasty, China (1368-1644), where you will discover intricate designs, drawings and calligraphy on paper and porcelain; Benin City, Africa (1550), where you will meet the brass-casters who create elaborately detailed plaques and ornaments only for the Oba (or king); Coyoacán, Mexico (1907-1954), where you will get to know the painters Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera.

Written by art history teacher Dr Sarah Phillips, who rewrote and decolonised the A Level syllabus in the UK, and illustrated by talented artist Dion Mehaga Bangun Djayasaputra, this gorgeous book offers a fresh, inclusive view of the history of art.