We go to the gallery – an art world primer for young readers.

British artist and comedy writer Miriam Elia’s popular art world-skewering “We Go to the Gallery,” will be re-released in mass-market format.

Early readers in the USA enjoyed Sally, Dick and Jane in the Dick and Jane book. who were the main characters in popular basal readers written by William S. Gray and Zerna Sharp^[ and published by Scott Foresman, that were used to teach children to read from the 1930s through to the 1970s in the United States.

Meanwhile in the UK, the Ladybird series kept early readers in England happy.  For art world fans with a sense of humor this new book parodies the modern art world in the style of these early readers.

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“I want to play with the balloon, ” says John.

This sweetly sharp art world satire parodies the beloved ’60s British Ladybird series of early learning pocket books, enabling children to “smoothly internalize all of the debilitating middle class self hatred” contained in contemporary artworks. “New words on every page will also help your child to identify core concepts, so that they may repeat them at dinner parties to impress educated guests…

John does not understand.

“The rubbish smells,” says Susan.

New Words: Rubbish, Smells, Western

Printed in bold colors and written in clear, simple English,” each book in this new series from Dung Beetle Learning “will drag families in to the darkest recesses of the collective unconscious, for their broader cultural benefit.”

The canvas is blank.

 

 

Did you know?  “The first release of “We Go to the Gallery,” printed after a Kickstarter campaign by the author, yielded only 1,000 copies that were sold for around $30 each. But the book gained popularity quickly. Ms. Elia shared some of the pages on social media, and soon they went viral. Then, the first release copies became coveted, and some resold for around $1,400. Ms. Elia knew then that she had to do a reprint.”