Art & Story Time

Art and Story Time is a weekly series for children 5 and under. Every Monday will feature a different book read aloud plus a hands-on art project. There may even be special surprise visits from illustrators, story characters, and more. Fun for children and their parents!

“The Dot” by Peter Reynolds

With a simple, witty story and free-spirited illustrations, Peter H. Reynolds entices even the stubbornly uncreative among us to make a mark, and to follow where it takes us. Her teacher smiled. “Just make a mark and see where it takes you.” Art class is over, but Vashti is sitting glued to her chair in front of a blank piece of paper. The words of her teacher are a gentle invitation to express herself. But Vashti can’t draw; she’s no artist. To prove her point, Vashti jabs at a blank sheet of paper to make an unremarkable and angry mark. “There!” she says. That one little dot marks the beginning of Vashti’s journey of surprise and self-discovery. That special moment is the core of Peter H. Reynolds’s delicate fable about the creative spirit in all of us.