I Can’t Draw

In I Can’t Draw, a young boy named Max enlists his friend Eugene’s help in order to draw with more detail and sophistication. The reader is introduced to Max’s seemingly crude (but actually age-appropriate) drawings of a space cat, a mouse, and a horse. Max is proud of his work until he spots Eugene’s illustrations which appear to be at the level of a professional artist. Eugene lends his “How to Draw” book to Max, but it has little effect until Max starts tracing. This technique appears to work, and his drawings reach a new level of sophistication. However, he realizes that having fun with his drawing is more important than striving to copy Eugene.

I Can’t Draw offers an alternative viewpoint to other works within the saturated market of instructional drawing titles. It emphasizes that art should be a fun experience and that perfection is unnecessary. For instance, inside the front cover is a series of illustrations meant to teach children how to draw a cat, portrayed in the typical professional style. The inside of the back cover shows a similar step-by-step process but drawn in a child-like style with less perfection. Details like this significantly add to the charm of this book. Note, however, that there is a reference to non-Canadian currency, specifically a picture of an historical figure who appears on an American bill, unrecognizable to most Canadian children. This inclusion detracts from this title’s suitability for the Canadian market. Other than this, the illustrations are colourful and enticing, a mixture of pencil-drawn professional-looking scenes or animals (by “Eugene”) and more uncomplicated, brightly-coloured crayon scenes on yellow-lined paper (by “Max”). Four pages in particular, near the end of the book, feature a brilliantly-rendered juxtaposition of the two styles in rich detail.

I Can’t Draw is a title for children’s collections in public and school libraries.