Since Pablo Picasso is my son’s favorite artist, it’s no wonder we’ve enjoyed our share of Picasso books for children throughout the years. Today I’m sharing some of those reading choices so you can enjoy them with your kids.
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Most of these Picasso titles are familiar to us, but a few of these are on our wishlist. Old and new, I know they’ll be great additions to your homeschool shelves or a Pablo Picasso unit study you may be planning.
Here are ten children’s books to consider if you’re learning about Picasso with your kids.
Pablo Picasso Books for Children
One quick thing to note before jumping into the list is that all of the links below lead to Amazon. If you’re interested in supporting independent bookstores through your purchases, see this list on Bookshop.org. It’s got most of these titles, plus some extras not referenced here.
1. Meet the Artist: Pablo Picasso
I wasn’t expecting to come across a Picasso book with flaps to lift and cutouts to look through, but I found one in Meet the Artist: Pablo Picasso from Patricia Geis. This is one that will keep your kids engaged and ready to learn more as they explore the changes in Picasso’s art during his lifetime.
2. Who Was Pablo Picasso?
Who Was Pablo Picasso? is a great kid-friendly Picasso biography. At 112 pages, it’s a great source of information on Picasso’s formative years, his personal life, and his contributions to the world of art.
3. Pablo Picasso
Like the others from Mike Venezia’s series, Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Artists: Pablo Picasso is a fun overview of Picasso’s life and art. Also worth noting, it contains several full-color reproductions of Picasso’s work.
4. Picasso and the Girl with a Ponytail
I don’t exactly hide how much I love reading Anholt’s Artists Books for Children with my kiddos, so it shouldn’t surprise anyone to find Picasso and the Girl with a Ponytail on this list of Picasso books. This lovely picture book tells the story of Picasso and his neighbor Sylvette David and includes Anholt’s illustrations, as well as reproductions of some well-known pieces from Picasso.
5. Pablo Picasso: Breaking All the Rules
Pablo Picasso: Breaking All the Rules from the Smart About Art series is a fun book-report style presentation of Picasso’s life and art. The information itself is good, but kids will particularly appreciate the illustrations and facts randomly found throughout the book.
6. Picasso’s Trousers
It’s not hard to understand why a biography named Picasso’s Trousers would grab your kiddo’s attention, right? This biography is especially good for young learners as it introduces Picasso’s work and styles. That said, the fun title isn’t necessarily reflected in the entire book. It’s definitely still a biography, but the pants come into the picture due to a quirky Picasso story shared toward the end of the book.
7. 100 Pablo Picassos
100 Pablo Picassos is one of the more unique titles on this list of Picasso books and it’s one of the few titles that isn’t from a series. I especially love this one because the way it combines the details of Picasso’s personal background with his journey as an artist. If I were only going to buy one book on this list, this is the one I’d choose.
8. Painting with Picasso
Introduce your littlest learners to Pablo Picasso with Painting with Picasso. This board book is perfect for less than gentle hands and combines simple and short text with some of Picasso’s paintings. It’s a great addition to your reading time!
Related: Pablo Picasso Unit Study Resources
9. Just Behave, Pablo Picasso!
“Just behave, Pablo.” It’s not hard to imagine that Picasso heard that phrase several times in both his childhood and adult life. After all, Picasso was known for breaking the rules about art.
Just Behave, Pablo Picasso! is a picture book that captures the more rebellious side of Picasso as an artist — in a good way — and helps readers empathize with the artist as he followed his own ideas even when they weren’t popular.
10. The Boy Who Bit Picasso
Here’s another fun Picasso title for you: The Boy Who Bit Picasso. Aside from the fun name, this book stands out among the others because it was written by someone who knew and spent time with Pablo Picasso himself.
Just in case you can’t wait to find out for yourself, the author was indeed the boy who bit Picasso. And yes, Picasso bit him back. ;)
Looking for other reading ideas on the master artists? You may like these book lists: