The Artful Parent by Jean Van’t Hul is a wonderful, approachable book for parents who are not – um- very artistic themselves but who recognize the importance of art in our pumpkins’ lives. Van’t Hul cut her chops on her lovely blog, also called The Artful Parent (www.artfulparent.com), that she began as a way to document a toddler art group that she started after her daughter was born. I love and visit her site often, but I still find the format of the book very useful. She spends some time discussing how to inspire and encourage kids to make art and while she does not do this explicitly, her suggestions for parents around how to make space in your home for making art, suggested materials lists, and emphasis on making everyday activities artful makes all of this seem less overwhelming – even if you live in an apartment and have chosen not-so-wise-for-children colors for that apartment. Van’t Hul makes a great many of the projects in the book seem doable. And the projects are often lovely so that you can do more grinning and less bearing when your pumpkins want to display their art!