Look!: Body Languages in Art

Text: Wolfe, G. (2006). Look!: body language in art. London, England: Frances Lincoln Limited.

Text type: Informational Children’s Book

Synopsis: This book focuses on 18 different artworks from artists such as Vincent Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, and Andy Warhol, examining how artists use body language to communicate within their artworks. The author focuses on examining how faces, hands, and bodies, overall, deliver messages and tell stories to show how a person or character is feeling or what they may be thinking. This text illustrates how classical art can relate to contemporary times by recognizing universal ways to communicate nonverbally.

Analysis: This book will challenge its readers to evaluate how communication can be delivered through art and through body language by asking thought-provoking questions such as “What do you think will happen next?” and “How would their lives have been different?” Activities are offered to encourage readers to further their exploration of body language in art. For even further research, biographical information is given about each artist within the book as well as where to find the original paintings shown in the text. This book will allow students to improve their literacy and thinking skills while allowing them to explore a new perspective in communicating within art.