The First Drawing

In 1994, the Cave of Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc was discovered, filled with the oldest known drawings in existence at that time, made 30,000 years ago. In that same cave, prehistoric footprints were discovered: those of an 8-year-old child and a wolf. From these astonishing facts, THE FIRST DRAWING was born. In this beautiful picture book, Caldecott Medal-winning author/illustrator Mordicai Gerstein imagines one possible way drawing was invented. The young boy that stars in this story has such a vivid imagination that he sees images everywhere - clouds, stones and smoke look like animals to him. His parents, however, don't share his enthusiasm and wish he would be more down to earth. However the boy cannot contain his enthusiasm and one night grabs a smoky stick and "traces" the image he sees on a cave wall. Lo and behold: the world's first drawing.The First Drawing is a story sure to inspire any artist, young or old, as well as anyone with a dream to do something new and different.

Winner of Massachusetts Book Award (MassBook) (Children/Young Adult) 2014
Commended for Parents Choice Awards (Fall) (2008-Up) (Picture Book) 2013
Short-listed for Red Clover Award 2015
Short-listed for Washington Children's Choice Picture Book Award 2015

“"The line, acrylic, and colored-pencil art, which fills up each spread, has the buoyant feeling of discovery and is clever in the way it turns imaginings into pictures. A way to think about the start of art."”

[Gerstein's] illustrations are colorful and dramatic.-- Library Media Connection "The story offers a creative approach to get kids thinking about that paradigm shift into artistic representation...Use this in an art class to spark consideration of the time before fingerpaints, refrigerator art, and even sidewalk chalk."--BCCB "Echoing the simplicity of cave drawings with simply sketched figures, Gerstein enhances them with expressive pen-and-ink detail and luminous acrylics and colored pencil, in hues from pure sky blue to firelight."--The Horn Book --Booklist "Gerstein's acrylic, pen-and-ink and colored-pencil mixed-media illustrations create depth and a sense of the past, as well as imparting liveliness and possibility...Solid storytelling, satisfying narrative circularity, and masterful, creative illustrations make this an inspiring story for young artists."--Kirkus "Gerstein's mixed-media spreads feature a mostly blue and brown palette, and thin, rainbow-hued brushstrokes add texture and vividness....Artists see the world differently, but Gerstein suggests their true gift lies in allowing others to share in their visions."--Publishers Weekly (starred review) "In this compelling picture book, Gerstein invites children to travel back in time more than 30,000 years to a cave in what is now southern France....Gerstein's illustrations of rocks, clouds, and shadows cleverly conceal animal shapes that both readers and the protagonist are compelled to discover."--School Library Journal (starred review) "The much-admired illustrator Mordicai Gerstein performs a persuasive bit of magic in The First Drawing...[he] uses delicate ink over rough colorful acrylics in a visual echo of the way the fineness of artistic sensibility might have arisen in primitive Stone Age culture"--The Wall Street Journal Fall 2013 Parents' Choice Award2014 CCBC Choices ListChildren's Book Committee at Bank Street College 2014 Best Book of the Year Fall 2013 Parents' Choice Award2014 CCBC Choices ListChildren's Book Committee at Bank Street College 2014 Best Book of the Year

MORDECAI GERSTEIN studied art at the Chouinard Art InstituteMORDECAI GERSTEIN studied art at the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles and has designed and directed animated films in Los Angeles and has designed and directed animated films. He is the author-illustrator of many books for children, i. He is the author-illustrator of many books for children, including Stop Those Pants! Mr. Gerstein lives in western Masncluding Stop Those Pants! Mr. Gerstein lives in western Massachusetts. sachusetts.

Imagine you were born before the invention of drawing, more than thirty thousand years ago.You would live with your whole family in a cave and see woolly mammoths walk by!You might even see images of animals hidden in the shapes of clouds and rocks.You would want to share these pictures with your family, but wouldn't know how.Who would have made the world's first drawing Would it have been you In The First Drawing , Caldecott Medal winner Mordicai Gerstein imagines the discovery of drawing...and inspires the young dreamers and artists of today.

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