The Noisy Paint Box: The Colors and Sounds of Kandinsky’s Abstract Art

Vasily Kandinsky was a typical Russian boy until his aunt gave him a paint box. He began to mix the colors from the paint box, but then he heard a “hiss” from inside the box. Vasily thought others heard the noise too. When he told others about the noise, they thought he was making it up. They just didn’t hear it. He stopped painting and didn’t tell anyone that he was hearing the noises, but he couldn’t ignore the noises. The colors were singing to him inside his head! Vasily did an art show when other artists thought art needed to change because they were tired of painting houses and flowers. He said the paintings were his art, and he asked them how the paintings made them feel. Vasily was teaching them how to paint feelings! You’ll have to read the book to see what he created and to learn more about why Kandinsky could hear colors.

This story about Kandinsky would be great for kids who love art, or for kids who have synesthesia (a harmless, genetic condition that causes the senses to get a bit mixed up). The illustrations were really good…I loved the page that had the hissing colors!