Drawing Books for Kids
Drawing is a wonderful activity for kids of ALL ages! Whether your child is just a beginner or they’re an advanced artist – or even if they can’t draw at all – you’ll find something on this list that’s helpful for them.
And it can be a great activity to do with your kids. (Intimidated about drawing with your kids because you don’t think you’re any good at it? Read on, because I have the perfect book for you!)
This post contains affiliate links. You can read our disclosure policy here.
Watch the video review, or scroll down to read through and get links to the books!
Ed Emberley’s Drawing Books
We adore Ed Emberley’s books around here (there’s a reason they are so worn out!). We’ve been collecting these since my oldest was very young, and they’re a treasure in our home – and usually our go-to when my kids want to draw with me.
This is the perfect book to start with any child. And it’s best if you sit to draw with them. “But I can’t draw!” Trust me – anyone can draw using this book! In fact, the very first thing he teaches in this book is drawing an ant.
I love this book because it can bolster the confidence of any child (or adult!), even if they are reluctant about drawing or don’t think they are very good at it. Even a young child can draw some of the animals in this book.
This book is just a step up from the first, but not by much. It makes a great next stepping stone in drawing, and can open up a child’s imagination. We’ve had so much fun creating our own little worlds with this book.
Big Green Drawing Book / Big Purple Drawing Book
If your child is ready to advance beyond the first few Ed Emberley books, either of these is the way to go! While the drawings remain simple in their steps – putting shapes together – the end results grow more and more complex. From pirate ships to dragons to robots and aliens, these books bring so much whimsy and creativity to a kids’ drawing abilities. If your child is already a confident artist or is older, they may enjoy these!
You can see the full list of Ed Emberley’s books here.
Kumon My First Book of Drawing
This book holds a special place for me because it was one of the first drawing books my oldest child used. I vividly remember seeing him draw a fish at 2 or 3 years old and being absolutely shocked! This is a great book for very young children or those who are still working on their fine motor skills.
(Kumon also has a My Book of Learning with Crayons which is also excellent for beginners!)
Usborne Drawing Books
Colorful, beautiful, and excellent step-by-step instructions, this book is great fun for kids learning to draw! We love that there’s such a wide variety of things they teach kids to draw, and in an engaging way that makes it a part of the book.
Usborne Step-by-Step Drawing Books
We have several of these, and my kids have really enjoyed them! They do a great job going step-by-step showing kids how to draw a bunch of fun, different things. These are great if your child has a particular interest (like dinosaurs or horses!).
Modern Cartooning
If you have a kid who is interested specifically in cartooning, this is a great book! It goes beyond just a how-to book and touches on character, design, and more. It can be a confidence booster for kids or tweens moving beyond just drawing into creating their own characters and comics.
Action Cartooning / Fantasy Cartooning
These are both for kids a bit more advanced in their drawing abilities. There’s less step-by-step in these, and more guidelines, inspiration, and a bit of explaining the why. It not only teaches good details, but also bigger concepts. Created by a former Marvel artists, they’re both excellent books to have on your shelf and can help your kids really step up their drawing or cartooning abilities.
Have a child that prefers learning by video?
Hands down, the BEST kids drawing channel out there is Art for Kids Hub. Not only are the drawings amazing and easy to follow along with, I love that in each one the teacher has a child drawing along with him. It helps kids see that drawing doesn’t have to be perfect to be art. We love drawing along with these together as a family and seeing how different all of ours turn out. No matter their skill level, kids are going to love following along with these videos (and you may, too!).
This channel has a great array of drawing tutorials, techniques, as well as touches on story telling, and more! Perfect for kids who are getting more advanced in their artistic abilities and want to learn a bit about creating comics as well.
If you have a kid who loves drawing, they’ll LOVE my free, printable comic book pack! You can check it out here.
