My Cut-Out Pictures

This stylish activity book by Nathalie Parain, a modern artist working in 1930s France, teaches children how to create "cut-out" pictures, a technique favoured by Matisse and many other modern artists and art educationalists. It includes sheets of coloured paper so kids can get busy cutting out a rainbow of masterpieces.

My Cut-Out Pictures is an art activity book born out of the belief in a child's ability to use their imagination freely and create artworks to please themself. Illustrated by Nathalie Parain, a young Russian artist working at the centre of the modern art movement in 1930s France, the book's beautifully designed compositions provide young children with an entry into the world of simplified forms, bold colours and spontaneous creativity. Children can follow the cut-out designs in the book but are encouraged to intervene and invent their own version of the image in front of them. There are piglets to feed, wild flowers to arrange, carriages in search of a train and a bedroom that is messy beyond belief! With 24 pages of coloured paper stapled inside the book, My Cut-Out Pictures will provide hours of inspiration. Seventy years on, it remains one of the most stylish spring boards into playful creativity ever published for children.