A Kids Guide to Drawing Cartoon Animals by Vicki Whiting and Jeff Schinkel

Here is the book summary:

Exciting, simple, and full of fun!

·       28 cartoon animals to draw including crocodiles, cats, sea horses, sharks, elephants, tigers, pandas, and more

·       Step-by-step drawing instructions are followed by full trace-and-draw sketches to put it all together

·       Educational activity book for boys and girls aged 5-10 provides plenty of space to practice their own free-hand drawing

·       Author Vicki Whiting, a former teacher, is founder and president of Kid Scoop, a weekly educational page syndicated in over 200 newspapers

This engaging activity book for boys and girls aged 5-10 helps kids learn how to draw 28 cartoon animals, from crocodiles and cats to sea horses and sharks!

With step-by-step, trace-and-draw instructions and plenty of room to practice, kids will be able to draw animals all by themselves in no time.

Author and former teacher Vicki Whiting is the founder of Kid Scoop, an award-winning weekly activity page that promotes standards-based learning. Parents and teachers around the world use Vicki's fun activities to stimulate academic success and a joy of learning.

With this expansive collection of exercises from Kid Scoop and Happy Fox Books, kids will have hours of fun creatively drawing all their favorite animals!

And now, my review:

From land, to water, to rodents, to insects, this book covers so many options to busy oneself with drawing.  We found the instructions to be doable and not frustrating.  It’s a great book to sit down with, thumb through, pick a favorite, and go for it.  Once the drawing is on paper, then the coloring and making a picture around it comes in.  Why not make up a family giving them all different facial expressions.

I received a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

https://www.amazon.com/Learn-Animal-Friends-Step-Trace/dp/1641240326/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=a+kids+guide+to+drawing+cartoon+animals&qid=1596199820&sr=8-2

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-kids-guide-to-drawing-cartoon-animals-vicki-whiting/1131809779?ean=9781641240321

How to Draw Almost Everything Volume 2

Here is the book summary:

How to Draw Almost Everything Volume 2—a follow-up to the popular book 

·       Learn to draw each illustration in easy-to-follow steps. Just follow the arrows to complete each step. You’ll also find helpful tips and ideas for drawing variations.

·       Start with basic shapes, such as circles, triangles, and squares, then add special details to personalize your illustrations.

·       Draw animals, people, everyday objects, patterns and borders, and holiday and seasonal themes, along with warm-ups and special lessons.

·       An inspiration gallery offers fun ideas for adding illustrations to everyday objects or creating one-of-a-kind notes, cards, and gifts.

Each book in the Almost Everything series offers readers a fun, comprehensive, and charmingly illustrated visual directory of ideas to inspire skill building in their creative endeavors.

And now, my review:

I found this book to have all sorts of ideas to play around with.

I received an ARC digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

https://www.amazon.com/How-Draw-Almost-Everything-Illustrated/dp/1631598465/ref=sr_1_1?crid=HIJY9NIHD9YR&dchild=1&keywords=how+to+draw+almost+everything+volume+2&qid=1596137755&sprefix=how+to+draw+almost+everything+vol%2Caps%2C206&sr=8-1

Learn to Draw Disney Winnie the Pooh

Here is the book summary:

Use the included tracing paper, step-by-step drawing exercises, and practice pages to learn to draw your favorite characters from the Hundred Acre Wood, including Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, Eeyore, and more!
 
Learn to Draw Disney Winnie the Pooh is a 64-page, spiral-bound book that shows beginning artists how to draw the lovable characters of the Hundred Acre Wood. After an introduction to art tools and materials, there is an overview of how to use the book. Then the real fun begins! You'll find easy-to-follow drawing projects for Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, Eeyore, Kanga, Roo, Rabbit, Owl, and Christopher Robin.
 
Three different learning methods make learning to draw easy: tracing, the grid drawing method, and the basic shapes method. The basic shapes method transforms a seemingly challenging drawing exercise into a series of simple steps, beginning with basic shapes. Each step builds upon the last and, before you know it, you have a finished drawing of a hungry, honey-loving stuffed bear!
 
This book includes tracing paper to accompany the tracing projects, practice grids to draw on, and practice pages after each basic shapes project. Use these included practice pages to get started directly in the book. All you need is a pencil!
 
With step-by-step instruction, professional Disney artist tips, and bonus character biographies and fun facts,Learn to Draw Disney Winnie the Pooh provides countless hours of artistic fun for Winnie the Pooh fans of all ages and skill levels. So grab your drawing pencils and get ready for an artistic adventure with Christopher Robin and his stuffed animals in the Hundred Acre Wood!

And now, my review.

Who doesn’t like Winnie the Pooh?!?!  I’m a lifelong fan so I was so excited to come across this drawing book.  Along with the basic shapes method that shows you the lines, they include a grid method that is really helpful in the placement of certain angles and parts.  This helped me with my proportions if I got off on some of my lines.  They also included a tracing page that you can use to trace with.  No matter the level of student, you can find helpful instructions in this one. 

I received a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

https://www.amazon.com/Learn-Draw-Disney-Winnie-Pooh/dp/1633227618/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=learn+to+draw+disney+winnie+the+pooh&qid=1576178392&sr=8-1

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/learn-to-draw-disney-winnie-the-pooh-walter-foster-jr-creative-team/1130072819?ean=9781633227613

The Little Book of Cartooning and Illustration by Various Authors

Here is the book summary:

In The Little Book of Cartooning & Illustration, beginning cartoonists, animators, and illustrators will discover key concepts associated with learning the art of traditional cartooning and animation.

With this guide, dozens of tips from the pros will help you find the materials and tools you need to develop your own unique style. A combination of creative step-by-step projects and open practice areas offer encouragement and invite participation for those artists who want to put their newfound skills to immediate use.

You'll learn all the cartooning and animation tricks of the trade, including:

·        The squash and stretch principle

·        Exaggerating details

·        Rendering faces and expressions

·        Anthropomorphizing inanimate objects

·        Creating original characters

·        Mastering body shapes and movement

·        Writing gags and jokes

With so many tools at your disposal, why wait any longer to start animating? Get started, get drawing!

The Little Book of ... series focuses on delivering fun, approachable, and interesting art instruction in a fresh, portable format. With its contemporary design, open practice pages, creative exercises, and prompts that encourage interactivity, beginning artists learn the fundamentals of their craft, often with immediate results.

And now, my review:
The Little Book of Cartooning and Illustration by these various authors was so fun to look through and pick one and try it out.  I felt they gave quite a variety to choose from and with all sorts of expressions and feels.  It was truly fun to choose different ones.  Some I had to try more than once to get the right look, but that can happen with any drawing book.  If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.  I had a digital copy of the book so the extra pages to practice on didn’t affect me at all. 
I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

https://www.amazon.com/Little-Book-Cartooning-Illustration-expressions/dp/1633226204/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=The+Little+Book+of+Cartooning+%26+Illustration+Maury+Aaseng%3B+Clay+Butler%3B+Jim+Campbell%3B+Dan+D%27Addario%3B+Alex+Hallat%3B+Joe+Oesterle&qid=1562066360&s=gateway&sr=8-1#customerReviews

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-little-book-of-cartooning-illustration-maury-aaseng/1129102349?ean=9781633226203

Pocket Art Portrait Drawing

Here is the book summary:

The instructions are quick visual exercises in Pocket Art: Portraits, the first book in the new Pocket Art series.

This lively, graphic approach to explaining concepts will have you looking and learning with step by step illustrations and expert tips straight from London-based artist "Miss Led" (aka Joanna Henly). This compact 112-page book is just right for carrying in a backpack or pocket for when you’re learning on the go.

Henly begins by guiding you through your initial set up, then moves on to "Understanding the Face". She takes you through every detail of capturing facial features and expressions, and mastering the rendering of hair and skin. Her exercises demonstrate and reinforce everything you learn as you go along.


And now, my review:

Pocket Art: Portrait Drawing is a nice book to reference when working on Faces.  I also found that this was quick moving and the change from one to the next was VERY quick and not all that basic.  So it depends on your talent and where you are in your drawing skills as to if this will be a good fit for you.  I know for me, if I’m working on a certain part, say an ear, then this resource can be helpful for me to look at.   

I received a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

https://www.amazon.com/Pocket-Art-Portrait-Joanna-Henly-ebook/dp/B07CNMCGFN/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2G4UAMBCICH94&keywords=pocket+art+portrait+drawing&qid=1556669635&s=gateway&sprefix=pocket+art%2Caps%2C227&sr=8-1

Draw and Paint Super Cute Animals by Jane Maday

Here is the book summary:

In her newest instructional book Jane Maday, queen of cuteness, teaches you how to draw cute animal friends with basic and timeless drawing techniques. After you've mastered pencil drawings from photo references, Jane will guide you through simple techniques for adding colored pencil, watercolor and pen and ink. 35 step-by-step demonstrations cover the gamut of the cute animal kingdom from cats and kittens, dogs and puppies, chipmunks, songbird and ducklings, and even flamingos and frogs!

And now, my review:

I found the book Draw and Paint Super Cute Animals by Jane Maday to be quite a delight.  There are animals in all sorts of varieties of different shapes and sizes to choose from in this book and I think they definitely fall under the category of cuteness.  I’m a dog person and so that was a fun category for me to check out.  I also was a huge fan of her sea creature group.  Sometimes I found that it moved quickly from step to step but I just needed to slow down and give it some intense, determined effort. 

I received a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

https://www.amazon.com/Paint-Super-Animals-Step-Step/dp/1440353328/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1KOQQC8G9B0EC&keywords=draw+and+paint+super+cute+animals&qid=1551371171&s=gateway&sprefix=draw+and+super+cute%2Caps%2C157&sr=8-1

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/draw-and-paint-super-cute-animals-jane-maday/1129181445?ean=9781440353321#/

10-Step Drawing Flowers by Mary Woodin

Here is the book summary:

Featuring illustrated tutorials for drawing 75 different flowers, Ten-Step Drawing: Flowers breaks down each subject into 10 simple steps. All you need to get started is a pen or pencil and a piece of paper!

Handy prompts encourage artistic individuality and include helpful tips for drawing other subjects not featured in the book.

Ten-Step Drawing: Flowers will encourage even the most reluctant amateur artist to draw their heart out.

And now, my review:

This is the second book that I have looked at lately with the whole idea of 10 steps to a completed, beautiful drawing.  This book holds the promise of creating floral bouquets of flowers.  This author/artist has included so many options to choose from, from flowers to herbs.  Again I just love these books that make simple instructions that are doable to a finished work that is something I can be proud of.  I can sit back with the feeling of satisfaction after just 10 easy steps.  I think I’ll try another one very soon. 

I received a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

https://www.amazon.com/Ten-Step-Drawing-Flowers-Learn-Steps/dp/1633224899/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1538063637&sr=8-1&keywords=10+step+drawing+flowers

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/ten-step-drawing-mary-woodin/1128998173?ean=9781633224896

10-Step Drawing Animals by Heather Kilgour

Here is the book summary:

Featuring illustrated tutorials for drawing 75 different animals, Ten-Step Drawing: Animals breaks down each subject into 10 simple steps. All you need to get started is a pen or pencil and a piece of paper!

With Ten-Step Drawing: Animals, you will learn to create an awe-inspiring array of different animals. Step by step, you will create creatures both wild (bald eagle, armadillo, meerkat, dung beetle) and domesticated (donkey, camel, duck, goat). The animals include those from the sea (whale, sea turtle, jellyfish, walrus) and the woodland (snail, fox, raccoon, river otter). Even learn to draw your favorite pets (cat, dog, rabbit, guinea pig).

Handy prompts encourage artistic individuality and include helpful tips for drawing other subjects not featured in the book.

Ten-Step Drawing: Animals is sure to encourage even the most reluctant amateur artist to draw their heart out.

And now, my review:

This is a great book for simple drawings that can be made complex with the details.  I just loved how she walked me through step by step from simple to complex and there emerged an amazing animal out of it.  She doesn’t add a bunch more details than just what I need, which I liked.  There are also so many animal options to choose from.  Land animals and sea creatures.  I loved that she added so many options to choose from.  There’s bound to be something for everyone. Grab your drawing pencils and paper and plan to sit down with this book soon.

I received a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

https://www.amazon.com/Ten-Step-Drawing-Animals-Learn-Steps/dp/1633224880/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1538062848&sr=8-1&keywords=ten-step+drawing+animals+by+heather+kilgour

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/ten-step-drawing-heather-kilgour/1129208944?ean=9781633224889

Stick Sketch School: An Animal Adventure by Billy Attinger

Here is the book summary:

Learn to draw stylized stick figure animals in this art-venture! In Stick Sketch School: An Animal Artventure you'll draw animals from the jungle, Arctic, and even extinct & fantasy creatures!

Since Billy Attinger founded his company, Stick World, pop culture has exploded with stick figure art! Social media feeds and other online resources are the perfect home for this brand of simple, pithy, and often wickedly funny art. The best part about stick figures is that anyone can draw them!

Billy Attinger showed how to draw stylized stick figures in his popular Stick Sketch School, and now he's back to show the world stick-figure animals. Take an "adventure" around the world: learn to draw stick animals in the jungle, the Arctic, the rainforest, the Outback, underwater, and more! You'll even learn how to draw extinct animals and fantasy animals in stick form.

This guide to drawing is perfect for the visual learner. Each spread features a grid on how to draw the lines, how to add movement, as well as expression. You will also get tips and tricks from stick artist Billy Attinger himself on how to make your stick animals personal, recognizable, and unique!

And now, my review:

This book is great for all ages.  If you're like me you’ll feel like joining with your family and sitting down with your drawing pencils with this book.  I thought the author was helpful in the way he set up the instructions and it was great that he gave so many animal ideas.  You would think, what’s the big deal about stick drawing but this book takes it to a fun new level! 

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

https://www.amazon.com/Stick-Sketch-School-Artventure-Mastering/dp/1631063057/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1526420483&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=stick+sketch+school+an+animal+adventure

Just For Fun: Drawing by Lise Herzog

Here is the book Summary:

Learning to draw in pencil has never been so easy!

With Just for Fun: Drawing, aspiring artists and art enthusiasts who have never before picked up a pencil can follow incredibly simple step-by-step instructions and discover how to draw everyday subjects. Each featured subject starts with basic lines and shapes, and slowly progresses with each new step to a fully rendered, completed drawing. Saving the nitty-gritty technical aspects of drawing for the more advanced student, Just for Fun: Drawing simply touches upon key drawing concepts and fundamentals, including perspective, proportion, volume, shading, and composition, among others, that are relevant to a beginner's core understanding of the craft. With its abundance of approachable and contemporary drawings, as well as loads of tips, instruction, and inspiration, Just for Fun: Drawing will have even the most artistically challenged individuals mastering the art of pencil drawing in no time.

And now, my review:

This is a great drawing book.  It starts with the basics of supplies needed and gives you step by step instructions that lead you to your own masterpiece.  It is so freeing to have some direction and guidance and then make it your own by adding things here and there.  I think nature is my favorite but with the nature I can add some wildlife that she also teaches and maybe a person or building off in the distance.  The skies the limit and it’s all up to you! 

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

https://www.amazon.com/Just-Fun-step-step-projects/dp/1633222810/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1505669882&sr=8-1&keywords=just+for+fun+drawing

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/just-for-fun-lise-herzog/1125586492?ean=9781633222816#/

How to Draw Cool Stuff by Catherine V. Holmes

Here is the book summary:

How to Draw Cool Stuff: Holidays, Seasons and Events is a step-by-step drawing guide that illustrates popular celebrations, holidays and events for your drawing pleasure. From the Chinese New Year to April Fools' Day, Father's Day to Halloween, Christmas and New Year’s Eve - this book covers over 100 fun days, holidays, seasons and events, and offers simple lessons that will teach you how to draw like a pro and get you in the spirit of whichever season it may be!

The third book in the How To Draw Cool Stuff series, this exciting new title will teach you how to create simple illustrations using basic shapes and a drawing technique that simplifies the process of drawing, all while helping you construct height, width and depth in your work. It will guide you through the creative thought process and provide plenty of ideas to get you started. The lessons in this book will also teach you how to think like an artist and remind you that you are only limited by your imagination!

And now, my review:

We really have had fun with this one.  Here’s a book that has step-by-step instructions that take you through the process of drawing something.  The set-up is that each month they have some ideas that you might want to try so it can carry you throughout the year.  You’ll take some and lose some but in the end there is a lot to choose from so we enjoyed it.  It’s time to get out some drawing paper, our nice set of pencils and try another one.  Maybe you’ll want to learn to draw a rose or a summer beach scene.  If so, this might just be the book for you.  You call pick it up at the links below.

I received this book in exchange for my honest review.

https://www.amazon.com/How-Draw-Cool-Stuff-Holidays-ebook/dp/B01F9S7RCG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1490318930&sr=8-1&keywords=How+to+draw+cool+stuff+holidays%2C+season%2C+events

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/how-to-draw-cool-stuff-catherine-v-holmes/1123820092?ean=9780692661987