(they can be played at www.auryn.com)Last night, the girls and I snuggled up on the couch with some popcorn and these two short stories about two very wonderful artists, Van Gogh and Monet. I wanted to watch them together so that I could see how they responded to the stories, if they held their interest, and find out exactly what their interest is in art and art history.

Catybug (10) has mentioned on several occasions the desire to be an art teacher. Of course I was more curious to know what she would take away from these than Chickeymonkey, who was in it I’m sure for the animation.

If you’ve got young kids and want to expose them to art, I highly recommend these DVD’s. The animation was nothing that I expected – because I’m used to typical animation. This, however, was not typical. It’s a touch of Pixar, a bit of “What Dreams May Come” (POP Film), and narrated by a soothing voice. These were very literally (and appropriately coined) Painted Tales.

“Auryn is a unique combination of technology and creativity. Our image synthesists and designers have worked tirelessly together to create the next generation of animation tools that allow us to bring life to painted worlds as never before.”

Each of the stories were animated in each artists painterly style, which made the whole thing so much more interesting – especially for the girls. Swirls of paint moved around the screen and made them so visually interesting, neither of the girls looked away. They’re both short stories – and for some reason we were caught off guard when they ended, like we didn’t want them to end so soon.

Catybug really enjoyed the Van Gogh story – because it was told from the perspective of a young girl (Marguerite). That one is inspired by O. Henry’s classic short story, “The Last Leaf”. She really identified with that one. Me, I was sniffling at the end of Monet’s story – probably because it was sweet and inspirational, and as an artist I’ve always identified more with Monet than Van Gogh. Chick liked them both, and liked both stories.

Both of the girls, of course, are used to having a lot of artsy things around them. I teach them the things that I know – but I am not an Art History buff by any means. These were neat not just for them, but for me, too!

You can order DVD’s or just download them to your PC and burn them yourself – either way they’re just a few bucks, you can go here to view short clips of each story and pick them up for your kids (or yourself)!