Sculptural and 3D Books

Bob Raczka writes terrific books about art for children. His excellent Here's Looking at Me: How Artists See Themselves should be in every art teacher's collection. In 3-D he explores sculpture. Using an ABC book format, he presents a wide range of concepts and media.

His subjects are well chosen to engage young imaginations. Each work is presented with full attribution which includes the title, the artist, the date and the location of the piece. A page at the back gives full credit for the photography in the book too. The importance of properly citing resources and giving credit to the work of others should be and must be continually emphasized to students.

Everything works in this book from the clear typography to the clean layout. The art is beautifully photographed and tagged with a letter of the alphabet.

Concert for Anarchy by Rebecca Horn at the Tate Gallery in London is an inverted grand piano, hanging in midair with the keys spilling downward. It illustrates "U is for Upside Down."

"A sculpture can make you look at things differently,"

My favorite piece in the book is Spoonbridge & Cherry by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje Van Bruggen at the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN which is also the cover image. It is tagged with "S is for Spoon"

"A Sculpture can make you Smile"

This books will certainly make you smile and think about sculpture in a whole new way.
It was also nominated for the Cybil Non-fiction Picture Book award.

Bob Raczka's 3-D Sculptural Alphabet is an attention-getter with its cover featuring the Claes Oldenburg "Spoonbridge & Cherry" on the grounds of the famed Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. It's fun to be there when a school group visits, and listen to their comments and 'flights of imagination'.

Inside this delightful book the bright 'spoon' assemblage is faced with "table with pink tablecloth." Aren't you surprised that Formica is part of that piece of art (owned by Chicago's Art Institute)? Sculpture in public places increases the possibility of enrichment from art for all of us. During the last few decades we have seen fewer generals on horseback and more imaginative & abstract subjects decorating city plazas.

Reviewer mcHaiku rather envies Bob Raczka, seeing him as an author who can make children laugh, and also inspire their recognition of art in everyday surroundings - and he accomplishes this without the task of writing very many words! In fact, he must greatly enjoy seeing the books created from his own favorite choices of art works. These, in various sculptural forms may be some that children don't often see in books, or on classroom walls. Some artists like Picasso share several different kinds of art; others may practice one form of creativity. How fortunate we are, how wealthy to have our lives enriched by this series and other books 'aimed' at children.

Living in an under-populated rural county is not all bad. Ours is the buckle on an "art belt" - with Columbus & Bloomington, Indiana, on either side, and having fine sculptures by these artists to discover: Jean Paul Darrieu, Jerald Jacquard, Henry Moore, I. M. Pei, Jean Tinguely, some featured in Bob Raczka's book. There are three large outdoor pieces by Jacquard on a hillside just down the road from us. A feeling of exhilaration and creative urge is bound to invade the blood stream by such proximity.