Ready Set Draw! Animals with Matthew Van Fleet
Author and Illustrator Matthew Van Fleet shows us how to draw animals, and talks about his picture book Tails at the KidLit TV Children’s Book Weekend on Governors Island!
We taped this episode of Ready Set Draw! on location at the military installation on Governors Island known collectively as Fort Columbus! In 1878, officers’ families started to move in, and resources, such as a movie theater, a YMCA, “officer’s club,” public school, and three chapels, were built. This house is located next to the Admirals House in Nolan Park and was built in the late 1800s!
We’d love to add your artwork to the Ready Set Draw Art Gallery!
Share your images with us! Post them on our KidLit TV Facebook page OR use the hashtag #ReadySetDraw on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter so we can find you! We can’t wait to see what you’ve made!

SUPPLIES
- Sketchbook
- Marker
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ABOUT THE BOOK
Tails are irresistible to toddlers, and in Matthew Van Fleet’s sturdy touch-and-feel board book, preschool-age pokers and prodders can finally tug to their heart’s content. Engaging, cartoonish animals from tigers to pangolins romp across the pages as the rhyming text bounces along: “Tails fluffy, / Tails stringy, / Scaled tails strong and—clingy!” Pull tabs, lift-able flaps, tufts of fur, and even a scratch-and-sniff skunk tail provide plenty of tactile surprises. Along the way, youngsters will learn about counting, opposites, and how animals use their tails. A tried and true tail-wagger!
ABOUT GOVERNORS ISLAND
Governors Island is in New York, only minutes away from lower Manhattan and Brooklyn! You and your family can go to Governors Island by catching a ferry this summer.
ABOUT MATTHEW VAN FLEET
Matthew Van Fleet’s innovative books have been introducing children to basic concepts for over twenty years. His unique formats invite toddlers to touch, press, pull, lift and even sniff as they explore colors, shapes, numbers, letters, opposites and more. His books include the #1 New York Times bestsellers Tails and DOG as well as the New York Times bestsellers CAT, Alphabet, Heads and MOO. His perennial favorites have sold more than 8 million copies and children in fifteen countries across the globe enjoy his books in foreign language editions.
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Ready Set Draw!
Executive Producer: Julie Gribble
this kidlit is so fun
So happy you’re enjoying it! We had a blast making it for you!
:-)
omg omg i am a big fan like omggg
i love kid lit tv it so funn
i LOVE DRAWING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!