Picture Book Art Play

Picture book art play methods with thousands of possible variations

For parents who feel sorry they can't play well with their kids, for teachers at a loss for how to play,

and for activists who want to play artistically with picture books: a truly kind guide to picture book art play!

Creative picture book play that lets children express emotions through body language.

Picture Book Art Play is a guide that vividly captures the picture book classes of Lee Jihyun, an arts instructor with 17 years of experience. Within the new category of 'art play,' it presents a range of lessons showing how to make picture book play fun and effective. It works for playing with a child at home and can be used right away in classes for groups of children at kindergartens, elementary, middle and high schools, libraries and other institutions.
The book is divided into two parts. Part 1 offers a guide to picture book art play, and Part 2 introduces a rich variety of picture book play across eight chapters: playing by moving, by drawing and coloring, by staying in a single scene, by making the food in picture books, with the knowledge in picture books, by expressing myself, with numbers and Hangeul, and by making super-simple picture books. Drawing on the author's long experience teaching drama, it stands out for creative play that lets children express emotions through body language.
The book's real strength is that it goes beyond showing how to play with picture books; it awakens the energy and mindset needed to draw out the fun of play and to truly play together with children. Because it offers many variations for a single picture book, its play ideas do not stop at some 150. As you read, one new idea leads to another.
A magical guide that makes you want to take the picture books sleeping on your shelves, read them and play, even if you are not a picture book activist. Highly recommended for every grown-up interested in books and play.

She graduated from the Department of Playwriting at Seoul Institute of the Arts and worked as a stage actor and freelance writer. Since 2007 she has worked as a drama arts instructor for the Korea Arts and Culture Education Service, teaching art classes from kindergartens to elementary, middle and high schools as well as special schools. In 2018 she published a picture book essay about raising three sons, and in 2021 she published a book of manuals and know-how for picture book drama classes.
She is still active as a drama arts instructor and gives a wide range of lectures, including teacher and parent training, picture book parenting and picture book therapy, at libraries, district education offices, schools, kindergartens, teacher training institutes, childcare support centers and special education support centers. Through various social media channels she shares her stories as a mother of three sons, a wife, a drama teacher and a picture book activist.

● A kind guide to picture book play for grown-ups wondering 'How should we play?', ready to use at kindergartens, schools, libraries and institutions.
● Written for parents, teachers and picture book activists alike.
● Shows many possible variations of art play from a single picture book.
● Packed with the know-how of a former stage actor and arts instructor with 17 years of experience.
● Lets you imagine joyfully, express freely and play together with excitement.
● Picture book play is not divided by age.
● Offers a variety of ways to play with one picture book, whether with a group of children or one-on-one with your child.
● Presents creative picture book play that uses body language to express emotions.