Kids Learn the 3Rs by Messing with Art

PITTSBURGH - Sept. 30, 2013 - PRLog -- Two art books for elementary school children, What is Art? and Mobiles and Banners are now available for children who are home schooled, for schools who have had their arts funding cut and for any child who enjoys being creative in ebook format.

        What is Art? and Mobiles and Banners  by Marion Constantinides provide a new approach to teaching art to elementary school children at an affordable price.

PITTSBURGH, PA September 24, 2013.

        What is Art? provides the reader with an understanding and appreciation of painting, sculpture, drawing and printmaking with hands-on projects for elementary school children.

        Mobiles and Banners enables students to create two-dimensional banner designs based on the four seasons and turn them into three-dimensional mobiles.

        Both are published by Smashwords.

        Pittsburgh native Marion Constantinides, freelance artist and writer is pleased to announce the publication of two new art books for children in ebook format.

        Marion Constantinides first wrote and sketched as a child growing up in Pittsburgh, PA and Brooklyn, New York. She received her first recognition for her creativity when she won the New York City Schools Art Award and participated in her first art exhibit in downtown Manhattan.

        In 2005, she earned a Master of Art degree in Writing Popular Fiction (with an emphasis on children’s and Young Adult books) at Seton Hill University in Greensburg, PA.

        Marion’s mixed media drawings have been exhibited in various regional and national art shows.  In 1990 and in 1996, she was named Artist-In-Residence by the PA Council on the Arts and has won other awards for her art.

        Marion’s career includes working as freelance artist, editor, writer and literary agent.

        She is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. She lives in Pittsburgh, PA.

        Contact her at mailto:myrofora@comcast.net

        Twitter http://twitter.com/myroforam (http://twitter.com/myrofoam)

        Website http://www.marionconstantinides.com

        LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/marionconstantinides.com

        Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/mconstantinides

        What is Art? and Mobiles and Banners ask, Why is art education important?

        Children learn other subjects through the application of art such math and science. History, English and other subjects can provide inspiration for painting and sculpture. Try the art projects in these books. Children can enjoy learning these subjects by making a basket out of polymer clay or making a summer mobile or a collage from found objects.

        In 1977, Coming to Our Senses: the Significance of the Arts for American Education was published. Its message is as important today as it was then: that the arts are an important part of all school curriculums because the arts can and should be used as a foundation for teaching everything else.

        The arts have been eliminated or severely curtailed by many school districts across the nation due to budget cuts while many parents have chosen to educate their children at home. Teaching the arts through hands-on projects is another way of teaching the Three R’s.

        Founded in 2008, Smashwords is the leading distributor of self-published e-books. More than 60,000 authors, small presses and literary agents around the world publish over 200,000 e-books through Smashwords. Smashwords makes ebook publishing fast, free and easy. Smashwords distributes to major online retailers such as the Apple iBookstore, Barnes & Noble, Sony, Kobo, Baker & Taylor Blio, Page Foundry and the Diesel e-Book Store. Smashwords is based in Los Gatos, California, and can be reached on the web at http://www.smashwords.com. Visit the official Smashwords blog at http://blog.smashwords.com/