Leonardo looks closely, draws ideas, tries a giant clay horse, and chooses painting methods that let him return and change his work. After his death, Francesco Melzi keeps notebooks that still show those working ideas. An original illustrated biography for ages 3–5.
Read first 4 pagesThe opening of Leonardo da Vinci: Looking Closely, free to read.
On an old sheet of paper, Leonardo da Vinci drew hills and water. First he made light marks. Later he added darker lines and more mountains. He returned to the same drawing in two stages. The page shows him looking, drawing, and changing what was there.
Before he made that drawing, Leonardo was a boy near a small town called Vinci, in Italy. He grew up in his father’s family home. A garden stood beside the house. The land nearby had hills that his later landscape drawing recalled.
Leonardo’s father wrote important papers for other people. Writing was part of the family’s work. Leonardo grew up among familiar letter shapes and pages. Later he would use paper for his own writing and drawings, giving his ideas room to grow.
Beethoven: Music in MotionArtists, Book 2 · English · Picture book · Level 4 · Ages 3–5
Louis Armstrong: A New SoundArtists, Book 3 · English · Picture book · Level 4 · Ages 3–5
Frida Kahlo: Painting Her WorldArtists, Book 4 · English · Picture book · Level 4 · Ages 3–5
Maria Tallchief: Dancing ForwardArtists, Book 5 · English · Picture book · Level 4 · Ages 3–5
Yuri Gagarin: One Orbit Around EarthMore amazing people, Book 4 · English · Picture book · Level 4 · Ages 3–5
Thomas Edison: A Workshop of IdeasScientists, Book 5 · English · Picture book · Level 4 · Ages 3–5