Book Nook: Art Titles from Quarto

I recently had a chance to review a book perfect for anyone who loves anime and chibi - Chibi Art Class: A Complete Course in Drawing Chibi Cuties and Beasties by Instagram sensation and anime artist Yoai. Chibi is a charming style of drawing that makes adorable art and doodles. This book was easy for my daughter to follow - she did have some experience drawing chibi before, but this book had enough new ideas and tips that it was definitely worth her time. However, it's also appropriate for anyone who's never experimented with this style of drawing before.  Just like she loves chibi, my daughter loves all things cute, so she really enjoyed Draw 62 Animals and Make Them Cuteby Heegyum Kim! I loved the easy-to-follow step-by-step tutorials, and I also liked how they ended with different variations to really make them your own. If you have no interest in drawing cute things, you can still learn about drawing the animals themselves - but making the animals cute was the appeal of this book for my daughter.

I didn't review this last one, but it sounds like fun for the right audience. Soap carving has gained huge popularity online, but while most online videos are of cutting or carving soap bars into shavings, Ultimate Soap Carving offers instruction on creating cool and adorable designs, as well as how to use shavings to make new bars and other simple body care products – author Makiko Sone (aka Mizutama Soap) even shows fun ways to gift your carvings once you’re done!