Through visual and spoken imagery this book attempts to show how the process of making art is as important as the product or artwork itself. We are all artists engaged in truly creative activity when we use all our senses to explore the world around us. Every writer or artist draws upon deeply felt experiences both real and imagined. Each of us can learn to recognize his or her own creative instincts and abilities by tuning into the thoughts and feelings any experience generates. An artist takes the time to make discoveries. 

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"I am an artist when I discover shadows made by the moon, or trace patterns in the sand, or when I name the colors inside a shell"

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"I am an artist when I crunch through crusted snow and stop to gather winter's hush around me."

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1993 A Child Study Association Children's Book of the Year

1994 A Reading Rainbow selection

"This lyrical, almost poetic text puts forth the idea that art is a process- a way of living and seeing - as well as a manifestation in the form of a finished product. The emphasis is on that process rather than on the end result." –School Library Journal

"A gentle, atractive nudge to the creative instinct." –Kirkus

"This is a book to share with the young reader and any aspiring artist or lover of nature. It seeks to show that 'whenever you listen and search and see, you are an artist, too.' It does this by a beautiful series of detailed, vivid watercolour illustrations in which one could become quite easily immersed. Their attention to detail and colour is breath-taking. They also provide an excellent basis for many creative projects - both literary and artistic. This is a book to share, enjoy and treasure for its artistic merits, its imaginative stuimulation and its simple philosophy of life. An excellent choice for any home, school or public library." –Reading Time

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Recommended by "The Power of Pictures:Creating Pathways to Literacy Through Art (Grades K-6) Beth Olshansky 2008