Interpreting Children's Drawings

Book excerpt: First published in 1983. In this comprehensive volume, Dr. Di Leo once again brings to the reader the fruitful combination of extensive knowledge of children's drawings and an approach to the subject that is intimate and humane, but highly sophisticated. Those familiar with his books have come to expect the lucid style with which Dr. Di Leo leads the clinician toward incisive interpretations of children's drawings, pointing out key features and using, where appropriate, parallels from the world of art and literature. His discussions of over 120 drawings reproduced in this volume cover an astonishing range of topics, including: Interpretation, Formal and Stylistic Features, Mostly Cognition (drawing a man in a boat), Mostly Affect (drawing a house), Projective Significance of Child Art, The Whole and Its Parts, Global Features, Body Parts, Sex Differ­ences and Sex Roles in Western Society as Perceived by Children, Laterality and Its Effects on Drawing, Tree Drawings, and Personality Traits, Emotional Dis­order Reflected in Drawings, Pitfalls, Role of the Arts in Education for Peace, and Reflections. In his analyses, Dr. Di Leo skillfully singles out examples of overinterpreta­tion and other pitfalls, and answers questions such as: What does the thera­pist do when the child refuses to draw the family? Is the drawing a self-image? What are the differences between regres­sive drawings compared with the immature drawings of normal children? Even such fascinating topics as art brut, creativity, madness, and child art are discussed. The reader will find thought-provoking both the author's astute analyses and his keen awareness of the influence of society on children and the pictures they draw. Therapists in the field will find the book remarkably penetrating, while students in the field will delight in its clarity and thoroughness. Every­one who works with the drawings of children will find it absorbing.