Books

The followup to the much-loved Easy Peasy, Little Green Fingers is packed full of even more fun gardening activities for children! The followup to the much-loved Easy Peasy, Little Green Fingers is packed full of even more fun gardening activities for...

Meeting the Buddhas is a modern classic, giving a vivid and accessible introduction to all the main figures meditated on in the Indo-Tibetan Buddhist tradition. First published in 1993, this new edition incorporates a section on Vajrakīla, as well as new...

A pocket-sized resource for identifying the native trees, commonly encountered exotics, and popular ornamentals of the Philadelphia metropolitan area and adjacent counties in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. Each of the 118 tree-identification...

As F. Scott Fitzgerald portrayed the mad glories of the 1920s on the printed page, Tamara de Lempicka (1898–1980) captured them on canvas. A seductive Garbo-esque beauty with an irresistible force of personality, this refugee of the Russian Revolution...

Claude Monet’s Vétheuil in Winter (1878-79), painted during the artist’s first winter in the village, depicts his new home on the Seine, seen from the opposite bank of the river. Monet’s two and a half years in Vétheuil, a small farming community...

An illustrated guide to the fantastic world of Japanese myths: retelling the stories and exploring how Japanese mythology has changed over time, as new gods, heroes, and spirits have entered the  canon. While people around the world love Japan’s...

In Black, Brown + Latinx Design Educators, Kelly Walters collects twelve deeply personal interviews with graphic design educators of color who teach at colleges and universities across the United States and Canada. The book centers the unique narratives...

An in-depth tout of Philadelphia’s architectural history from the 1700s to the present day—for the general reader.   In Philadelphia Builds, architecture critic Michael J. Lewis explains why Philadelphia has produced so many extraordinary...

How do homes serve as emblems of a moment, markers of the past, or articulations of future possibilities? The Spring 2020 issue of Aperture considers the meanings and forms of a home, and the relationships between architecture, design, and the domestic...

Native America is a special issue about photography and Indigenous lives, guest edited by the artist Wendy Red Star. As debates around nationalism and borders in North America reach a fever pitch, Aperture magazine releases “Native America,” a special...

Wit, wisdom, and willfulness abound on page after page of this vibrant anthology. A great pick for mid-century architecture, design, and lifestyle fans. Includes a brilliant range of well-known women and those who certainly should be. Discover Edith...

By Lisa Roberts At four months old Mr. Waffles was rescued from a shelter by a family who collects contemporary design. Luckily for everyone involved - Mr. Waffles Loves Design! Take a tour through a history of design with this very smart and curious cat...

An illustrated history of games, their history and the people who played them, from antiquity to the present. Author: Helen Constantino Fioratti Softcover Publisher: Edizioni Polistampa 2014 174 pages, 9.5" x 6.5" ISBN: 9788859613282

This book is the first to chronicle the lives of African American women in the urban north during the early years of the republic. A Fragile Freedom  investigates how African American women in Philadelphia journeyed from enslavement to the...

Communication Arts Typography Annual 11 features the award-winning projects from their 11th Annual Typography Competition, plus in-depth profiles of Prague-based photographer Bet Orten, Portland, Oregon–based design firm OMFGCO, Brooklyn-based...

The  ultimate insider's guide to Philadelphia for locals and experienced  travelers• Features interesting and unusual places not found in traditional travel guides• Part of the international 111 Places/111  Shops series with over...

How do you find time in your busy day to get creative? Why, with 15-Minute Art Drawing, of course! Explore the pure joy of coloring pencils and markers with fifty 15-minute projects that encourage you to explore drawing in a relaxing, free and fun...

Taiga (1723–1776) and his wife, Tokuyama Gyokuran (1727–1784), were preeminent artists in eighteenth-century Japan. This landmark book—the only comprehensive survey available in English—focuses on the lives and times of these artists and accompanies the...

The best way to experience Philadelphia is by hiking it! Get outdoors with local author and hiking expert Lori Litchman. This full-color guide helps you locate and access the top hikes within 60 miles of Philly. A perfect blend of popular routes and...

One of our customer favorites, Drawn from Life is finally back in print! This ideally shaped and sized book offers bite-size lessons that will help anyone master the classic practice of life drawing. Over 100 pieces of art by contemporary artists...

Artemisia Gentileschi is by far the most famous woman artist of the premodern era. Her art addressed issues that resonate today, such as sexual violence and women’s problematic relationship to political power. Her powerful paintings with vigorous...

Once admired as “a little Rome” on the banks of the Rhône, the town of Arles in the south of France had been a place of significance long before the painter Vincent van Gogh arrived in February of 1888. Aware of Arles’s history as a haven for poets, van...

A wide-ranging retrospective that reveals a master printer’s own photographs to be technically brilliant work of remarkable breadth and complexity.This book presents the first in-depth survey of photographs by Richard Benson (1943–2017), who...

This fully illustrated catalogue features entries on more than one  hundred significant works by artists including Stieglitz Circle painters Georgia O'Keeffe, John Marin, Marsden Hartley, and Arthur Dove;  Precisionists Charles Demuth, Ralston...

Children Draw is a concise, richly illustrated book, aimed at parents, teachers, and caretakers, that explores why children draw and the meaning and value of drawing for youngsters—from toddlers to pre-adolescents.  It offers parents tips...

Through the exceptional permanent collection at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, this book looks at arms and armor as art—from warfare to war games, from hunting to the pursuit of glory. The Philadelphia Museum of Art’s holdings of arms and...

Edited by Dilys E. Blum with essays by Dilys E. Blum and Mary Schoeser, and a contribution by Julie Schafler Dale This is the first publication to consider art to wear, also known as wearable art, as a discrete American movement that mirrored the...

By Hiromi Kinoshita This richly illustrated catalogue of highlights from the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s wide-ranging collection of Chinese art, spanning antiquity to the present day, includes such gems as Ming gold vessels and imperial court robes, a...

A taxonomy we didn’t know we needed for identifying and cataloging stray shopping carts by artist and photographer Julian Montague. Abandoned shopping carts are everywhere, and yet we know so little about them. Where do they come from? Why are they...

The story of art is not always the story of art-historical 'isms' and complex academic debate. The real history is often the story of some very simple firsts - the first time an artist painted themselves, the first time someone painted a smile, the first...

Belonging in the immortal company of the great works of literature, Dante Alighieri’s poetic masterpiece, The Divine Comedy, is a moving human drama, an unforgettable visionary journey through the infinite torment of Hell, up the arduous slopes of...

In just two decades, Raphael Santi painted his way to legendary greatness. This essential introduction to the artist we know simply as Raphael presents the mastery of figures, forms, and space hat secured his place not only alongside Michelangelo and...

Ian Lynam's The Impossibility of Silence is a book for artists,  photographers and designers interested in approaching writing about  their vocation and culture. Drawing upon decades of experience as a  writer, designer, artist and...

Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858) was one of the last great artists in the ukiyo-e tradition. Literally meaning “pictures of the floating world,” ukiyo-e was a particular woodblock print genre of art that flourished between the 17th and 19th centuries...

While anchoring his practice in the traditions of antiquity and the Renaissance, Auguste Rodin paved the way for modern sculpture. From a very early stage, he was interested in movement, the expression of the body, chance effects, and the incomplete...

In 1941, Professor Richard Evan Schultes took a leave from Harvard and disappeared into the Amazon, where he spent the next twelve years mapping uncharted rivers and living among dozens of Indian tribes. In the 1970s, he sent two prize students, Tim...

The Pulitzer Prize-winning history that transforms a single event in 1722 into an unparalleled portrait of early America.  In the winter of 1722, on the eve of a major conference between the Five Nations of the Haudenosaunee (also known as the...

BlackStar creates the spaces and resources needed to uplift the work of Black, Brown and Indigenous artists working outside of the confines of genre. We do this by producing year-round programs including film screenings, exhibitions, an annual film...

In the annals of popular protest in America, these have been shining  hours, achieved entirely outside the conventional arena of orderly  protest, white paper activism and the timid bleats of the professional leadership of big labor...

For Marc Chagall (1887–1985), painting was an intricate tapestry of dreams, tales, and traditions. His instantly recognizable visual language carved out a unique early 20th-century niche, often identified as one of the earliest expressions of psychic...

Discover the audacious futurism of Zaha Hadid. As the first woman to win both the Pritzker Prize for architecture and the RIBA Royal Gold Medal,  Hadid broke the rules and re-defined the game, despite some saying her  designs were unbuildable...

Acclaimed as the “father of skyscrapers,” the quintessentially American icon Frank Lloyd Wright was an architect of aspiration. He believed in giving cultivated American life its fitting architectural equivalent and applied his idealism to structures...

Even in his unrealized projects, Le Corbusier redefined modern living, synthesizing functionalism, expressionism, and expansive urban thinking  from Switzerland to Chandigarh, India. This book provides a succinct  introduction to his...

Over the course of his artistic career, Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944) transformed not only his own style, but the course of art history. From early figurative and landscape painting, he went on to pioneer a  spiritual, emotive, rhythmic use of color...

Shimmering, pulsating color masses characterize the Abstract Expressionist masterpieces of Mark Rothko. Like no other artist in his generation, Rothko developed his own stylistic vocabulary, creating ceiling-high canvases that were to be experienced as...

Painter, and Marxist activist, Diego Rivera was not just the husband of Frida Kahlo.  He is renowned as much for his active politics as for his monumental mural paintings. This introduction explores his unique and visionary renderings of a modern...

Fables, folklore, and fantasy—this compendium of all things alchemical  and mystical gathers centuries of esoteric mythology in the form of  writings, drawings, paintings, and prints. From early Christian mystics  to the illustrations of...

Painter, sculptor, writer, and filmmaker, Salvador Dalí (1904–1989)  was one of the century’s greatest exhibitionists and eccentrics—and was  rewarded with fierce controversy wherever he went. He was one of the  first to apply the insights...

When is a urinal no longer a urinal? When Marcel Duchamp (1887–1968) declared it to be art. The uproar that greeted the French artist’s Fountain  (1917), a porcelain urinal installed in a gallery, sent shock waves  through the art world...

Designs for Different Futures records the concrete ideas and abstract dreams of designers, artists, academics, and scientists exploring how design might reframe our futures, socially, ethically, and aesthetically. Encompassing nearly one hundred...

The arresting paintings of Frida Kahlo were in many ways expressions of trauma. Through a near-fatal road accident at the age of 18, failing health, a turbulent marriage, miscarriage and childlessness, she transformed the afflictions into revolutionary...

Discover Her Art invites young art lovers and artists to learn about painting through the lives and masterpieces of 24 women from the 16th to the 20th century. In each chapter, readers arrive at a masterwork, explore it with an artist’s eye, and learn...

Take a guided tour through the art museum featuring modern art movements from Impressionism to Pop Art! Join a dad and his child for an interactive visit through the art museum. The guided tour turns into an incredible maze adventure as you go through...

This special and unusual atlas is a marriage of science and art like no other. Our universe is brimming with secrets, and surprising curiosities. Here  readers will learn the answers to all the questions they've asked  themselves: What does...

The 'Masters of Photography' series is a new approach to photography how-to. Each volume is dedicated to the work of one key photographer who, through a series of bite-sized lessons and ideas, tells you everything you always wanted to know about their...

How to Rule at Photography features 50 bite-size tips and tricks to help you improve your photo skills with your phone's camera. Creating brilliant photos with your phone isn't as hard as you might think, and the easy-to-follow advice in this book goes...

One of Europe’s most influential contemporary artists, Michelangelo Pistoletto (born 1933) has persistently investigated and expanded the role of the spectator in art since the 1950s through painting, sculpture, and performance. His present...

Out of print for a number of years, this facsimile of Marcel Duchamp’s Manual of Instructions was prepared by the artist for the disassembly of Étant donnés in his New York studio and its reassembly at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. First published more...

By Dilys E. Blum Italian couturier Roberto Capucci (born 1930) is revered by contemporary fashion designers for his innovative silhouettes and masterful use of color and materials. Capucci refers to his creations as "studies in form" and draws...

In an ever-evolving world, the only thing to count on is change. A path is never the same path twice. Everything we experience, be it real or imagined, influences what is around us—even if the changes are sometimes too small to recognize! For three...

Repair your favorite socks with style, add flair with personalized patches, and turn ripped jeans into an embroidered masterpiece. For beginner and experienced makers, Lily Fulop's guide to mending and upcycling is your colorful companion to ditching...

Mirrors have it tough: They feel like they are not doing a good job. because whenever people stare at them they (almost) always say bad things. Who would have thought, that the mirrors out there, well, they take it personally. One plucky little mirror...

Philadelphia—where more than three centuries of history come alive—is not one but several cities and you can experience all of them if you know where to look. Tucked amid the glass-and-steel skyscrapers stand the brick-and-mortar buildings of the...

Matthew Affron (Author) With contributions by Cécile Debray, Alexander Kauffman, Michael R. Taylor, and John Vick This book offers an engaging and accessible introduction to one of the twentieth century’s greatest and most enigmatic artists, Marcel...

The other knights have told him that there's no such thing as dragons, but he says, “Forsooth! There is TOO such a thing!” You just need to know where to look! And luckily, this knight has something very special that no one else has – a map that says:...

Creative young children will see themselves and the world around them in a fresh light in this charming story about an artistic soul. Through setbacks and triumphs, our young hero adds color and life to a drab gray city, bringing beauty to those who...

Back in the day, there was a heckuva party, a jam, for a word-making man. The King of Letters. Langston Hughes. His ABCs became drums, bumping jumping thumping like a heart the size of the whole country. They sent some people yelling and others, his...

Over a hill, at the end of a road, by a glittering stream that twists and turns stands a farmhouse. Step inside the dollhouse-like interior of Farmhouse and relish in the daily life of the family that lives there, rendered in impeccable,...

Meet Lee, a little boy who won't give up until he learns how to sew, and Zora, the sister who watches him try--and ultimately succeed! "I know big sisters. Zora, the boss, she's mine," explains Lee as he and Zora head to the library, where Mrs. C is...

At the start of things, the elders say, the universe was hushed and still. The moon alone shone bright and round in the star-speckled dark of the sky.  David Álvarez is one of the most extraordinary artists working today. His black-and-white...

Grandpa told Mom, and Mom told me: The secret of a plant lives in every little seed. Seeds are truly amazing! Did you know that every seed, no matter how small (microscopic) or large (weighing up to 14 pounds),  contains everything it needs to one...

 The children want to go to the park with Grandad, but they can’t leave until they find his lost socks…and his shoes…and even his teeth! Will they ever get out of Grandad’s busy house? With a trove of wonders to discover on every page, this seek and...

"Creeeeak!" goes the screen door to self-taught artist Elijah Pierce's barbershop art studio. A young boy walks in for an ordinary haircut and walks out having discovered a lifetime of art. Mr. Pierce's wood carvings are in every corner of the small...

Isamu Noguchi is one of the most important sculptors of all time. His Akari lamps changed the way modern buildings light their space. But before he was important, he was a kid. This is his story. Noguchi was a Japanese American artist who gave the world...

Here, from China, is a gorgeous story about generosity and gratitude, adapted from a traditional Buddhist tale by Kailin Duan. Her illustration style evokes artwork contemporary to the story's origins more than a thousand years ago, found in the famous...

Discover a whole new world of dragons in this beautifully illustrated book on the scaliest of magical creatures. From every detail of their wings to the history of their treasure, you'll learn about famous dragons from around the world. The latest...

Based on Sainte-Marie’s song of the same name, Still This Love Goes On  combines Flett's breathtaking art with vivid lyrics to craft a stunning  portrait of a Cree worldview. At the heart of this picture book is a  gentle message about...

We are living in a time when behavioral change is necessary for our health and survival. Yet we find it exceedingly difficult to transform our own habits, let alone those of other people. Enter Naohiro Matsumura, whose powerful new design method is as...

In freewheeling 1920s Paris, Kiki de Montparnasse captivated as a nightclub performer, sold out gallery showings of her paintings, starred in Surrealist films, and shared drinks and ideas with the likes of Jean Cocteau and Marcel Duchamp. Her...

Jake Makes a World follows the creative adventures of the young  Jacob Lawrence as he finds inspiration in the vibrant colors and  characters of his community in Harlem. From his mother's apartment,  where he is surrounded by brightly...

This indispensable introductory guide explores the art of the African continent from its early origins over 75,000 years ago to the contemporary, set in the context of postcolonial debates, the restitution of cultural objects and artifacts, and the...

Since the 1960s, contemporary art has overturned the accepted historical categorizations of what constitutes art, who creates it, and how it is represented and validated. This guide brings the subject up to date, exploring the notion of “contemporary”...

In The Treadwell’s Book of Plant Magic, author Christina Oakley Harrington—founder of the renowned Treadwell’s Books in London—focuses exclusively on the magical powers attributed to the plants. She has sifted through hundreds of traditional sources to...

Handy hands. What a unique tool! Explore the hand from a range of expected and unexpected aspects. Did you know that sign language varies from country to country? Have you ever wondered why some of us are left-handed while others are...

Award-winning journalist Natalie Pompilio guides you through 30 unique walking tours in this comprehensive guidebook. Go beyond the obvious with self-guided tours that showcase famed fare as well as vintage boutiques, high-end shopping destinations,...

A green cloud and a white tree? Who is responsible for illustrating this book? True Colors begins innocently with two friends, their dog, and their kite, but each time the story gets started, more colors seem to go awry. The narrator implores the reader...

Many people would love to learn to draw for pleasure, but don't know where to start. Being faced with a blank page can be daunting - even for a professional artist. In Sketchbook Challenge, illustrator Molly Egan shares prompts and ideas to get you...

AMC's Best Day Hikes Near Philadelphia offers 50 of the region's best hikes for all levels. Ideal for families, tourists, and locals alike, this easy-to-use guide will help hikers explore Eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware year-round, from...

Three Lines in a Circle tells the history of the peace symbol and how it  became a powerful icon used in marches and movements around the world. One line straight down. One line to the right. One line to the left, then a circle. That was all—just...

After passing a city museum many times, a boy finally decides to go in.  He passes wall after wall of artwork until he sees a painting that makes  him stop and ponder. Before long the painting comes to life and an afternoon of adventure and...

Meet Buzz the dog. He's such a good boy. Buzz seems to have a perfect life .. . and a lot of very well-behaved friends. Buzz would never dream of being anything other than good. Right, Buzz? Buzz . . . ? For anyone who has ever felt pressure to be...

Best-selling illustrator Britta Teckentrup explores the world of birds in a sumptuously illustrated nonfiction book. There are birds everywhere! Some of them live along the coast, some of them in the savannah, and some may be in your backyard. Young...

Cabinet 13 looks exactly like any normal filing cabinet…Except this cabinet is filled with files on the ‘symptomers’, humans whose strange abilities and bizarre experiences might just mark the emergence of a new species. But to Mr Kong, the harried...

An essential guide for emerging artists learning how to take pictures of places. From the author of the bestselling Read This If You Want To Take Great Photographs series, this jargon–free introduction covers all aspects of photographing places,...

In this wordless picture book, the Western world’s greatest art is closer than you expect. A boy’s daily routines bring him face-to-face with Escher’s winding stairs, Banksy’s balloon girl, Picasso’s dancing  fauns, and many more familiar sights...

First words are everywhere you look, especially in a house! This visually striking picture book catalogs an impressive array of household items, naming the delightful miscellany that comprises a life. The charming collections are creative and unexpected,...

Told from the perspective of a young girl learning to weave, Woven of the World is a lyrical meditation on the ancient art of weaving and what this beautiful craft can teach us. As rhythmic as the swish of a loom, and as vibrant as a skein of brightly...

Nose picking? Nail biting? Wiping dirty hands on clothes? Before you call them "bad manners," consider the compelling reasons that may be behind these behaviors. For instance, jumping on the bed is great practice for when the road becomes a trampoline!...

The Artist likes to paint one picture before breakfast. When the world is quiet. In a small red boat, he sits surveying the world around him, paying special attention to the sunlight, reflections, and the birds, of course. Always the birds. He’s not...

Through a carefully curated selection of quotations, images and interviews, Artists on Art  reveals what matters most to the masters. You'll discover how the  giants of the different artistic genres developed their distinctive  visual...