These beautiful book and card game combinations are winners of a Parents' Choice Gold Medal as well as the Editor's Choice Grand Prize winner of ForeWord Magazine, which calls them "the perfect combination of education and entertainment." I agree! A gorgeous gift for the art lover in your life, or an elegant introduction to art for children, these books and card games come packaged in sturdy decorative boxes that are worthy of mention because they are lovely in and of themselves.

The Impressionist Art Game comes with a 76-page, high quality, paperback book and a deck of art cards. The book begins with a four-page introduction to the world of the Impressionists followed by a double-page pictorial timeline from 1830 to 1920. Next read short biographies of the eight featured Impressionists: Manet, Pissarro, Degas, Morisot, Monet, Renoir, Cassatt, and Caillebotte. For each artist, the book features four of his or her paintings, each on a double-page spread with background information and a focus on details of the painting and art techniques. There is just the right amount of information offered to be interesting but not overwhelming for children.

The accompanying cards are beautiful, with a detail from each of the thirty-two paintings from the book on each card along with the artist's name and title of the painting. These cards are numbered by artist for easy reference. Directions for Concentration and Go Fish are included with the deck.

Birdcage Press also sells The Renaissance Art Game and The Van Gogh and Friends Art Game. You can buy the books and cards separately, but then you will miss out on the lovely storage boxes. Highly recommended!

-- Product Review by: Heather Jackowitz, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine

The Renaissance Art Game
Birdcage Books
www.BirdcageBooks.com
650-424-1701

The Renaissance Art Game is beautiful, creative, and unequalled in quality and creativity. The book and card set focuses on five major artists of the Renaissance: Fra Angelico, Sandro Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo Buonarroti, and Raphael Sanzio. Of these five men six specific works of each are featured. These six works comprise the thirty card deck. Each full-color, thick, glossy card lists the artist's name, work of art featured on the card, and also gives five other works of art by that artist. There are two different games to play to help you learn these men and their work and the instructions are included with the deck.

The book included in the set is the real gem to me. While the cards can be purchased separately, I would encourage you to buy the set for the comprehensive coverage as well as gorgeous close-up pictures of the artwork featured on the cards. Also included in the full-color book is an introduction to the Renaissance as well as short artist biographies. The book alone could serve as a perfect overview of Renaissance art from 1400 through 1564.

The presentation of this quality product in a book-shaped box with a deep red cover and lovely photograph of da Vinci's, Lady with an Ermine, was an extra bonus. It is obvious a lot of thought and work went into the entire product from start to finish and they have much to be proud of. If you are looking for a concise Renaissance study on both paintings as well as sculpture, enjoy a lovely card game with beautiful works of art, and appreciate a product well-made, this is for you.

-- Product Review by: Kate Kessler, Product Reviews Manager, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine

Van Gogh & Friends Art Game
The Renaissance Art Game
The Impressionist Art Game
Birdcage Press
www.BirdcageBooks.com

Birdcage Press
Wenda O'Reilly
650-424-1701

Birdcage Press has combined education and entertainment in a whole new way! Their lovely art games are in class by themselves! The Van Gogh & Friends Art Game, The Renaissance Art Game, and The Impressionist Art Game have all won countless awards, and I can definitely see why! We reviewed the art games in their complete sets. You can buy the books and/or the card decks separately. They come in a beautiful box with the art book and cards. I HIGHLY recommend buying the boxed set!

The games are based on the classic card games of "Go Fish" and "Concentration" with the artists name, the name of the artwork along with other works by this artist, and of course a full color picture of the artists masterpiece on each card. The books go into a historical timeline. Biographies, maps, details of the lives and art of each artist are featured, featuring the classic works of the artist in full color throughout the books. They are truly lovely and introduce our children to some of the world's most amazing artists.

The Renaissance Art Game features Leonardo da Vinci's "Lady with an Ermine" on the book and box cover. The cards feature 30 masterpieces of da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Fra Angelico & Botticelli. The book is a 75-page soft-cover work of art in and of itself! Not only is the book full of these beautiful works of the featured artists, but full of history and information on the artists and their times.

The Impressionist Art Game features Renoir's "Dance at Bougival" on the book and box cover and 32 beautiful paintings by Renoir, Manet, Pissarro, Monet, Degas, Caillebotte, Berthe Morisot, and my personal favorite Mary Cassat. This book is a 76-page soft cover with a wonderful introduction to the time period, a timeline of the era, and artist biographies in the first 9 pages. Following is more detailed information of each of the artists, their works, and lives. At the back of the book is a list of suggested reads for young children on each artist.

Van Gogh & Friends features Vincent Van Gogh's "Irises in a Vase" on the cover of the book and box cover and showcases 36 classic works of Cezanne, Seurat, Gauguin, Rousseau, Toulouse-Lautrec and of course, Van Gogh! This book is over 80 pages, includes a timeline, history, artist biographies, detailed information on the lives and works of these artists, a large section of further reading suggestions, and even a section in the back that tells us where we can find these works on display!

These Art Games & Books are a wonderful introduction to art history, the classic works of these great artists, the stories behind the paintings and the art techniques used to create them. These are PERFECT for homeschool families, or would make a wonderful gift! They are GORGEOUS, educational, and fun! My HIGHEST recommendation!

You can find Birdcage's products sold at Museums such as The Louvre', New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, London's National Gallery, the Getty Museum, and The Smithsonian. If you don't happen to be able to get to one of those locations, you can just drop by their website www.BirdcageBooks.com and tell them The Old Schoolhouse sent you!!



-- Product Review by: Lisa Barthuly & Family, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine