Children and Pictures: Drawing and Understanding

"This book is academic in the good sense of the word: it contains thorough introductions to relevant theories and balanced overviews of empirical data that support or contradict these theories." (International Journal of Education through Art, 1 May 2011)

"Children's drawing is a fascinating topic with a wide-ranging appeal,  and this well-written and well-informed book will be very useful to students and researchers of child development and art education, as well as being accessible to the general reader.  In ten clearly laid out chapters Richard Jolley gives an up-to-date overview of some of the debates in the field, an overview amply supported by research findings.  In a further and final chapter he suggests “future directions” which, I'm sure, will provide food for thought for many of the up-and-coming generation of researchers."
–Dr Maureen Cox, Emeritus Reader, Department of Psychology, University of York

"A long time in the making, this book was well worth waiting for. It is unusual in the range of topics it covers and the importance it accords to the field.  It can serve both as an introduction for new readers and as a resource for established researchers, which is extraordinarily hard to bring off.  This is because the author is clearly conducting a dialogue with the reader throughout, in a gracefully styled stream of writing."
–Norman Freeman, Emeritus Professor and Senior Research Fellow, Cognitive Development, University of Bristol

"Psychologist Richard Jolley takes the reader on a fascinating journey, using children’s drawings and their understanding of pictures as a way to understand children’s minds. This book will enlighten researchers, clinicians, educators, and parents – anyone who wants to understand why children draw in the sometimes odd, almost always charming, way that they do."
–Ellen Winner, Professor of Psychology, Boston College, and Senior Research Associate, Project Zero, Harvard University