Don't Call It Art: 10 Ways to Create Like a Kid Again

by Austin Kleon

Rediscover the joy of creating – with kid-inspired insights from the bestselling author of Steal Like an Artist

Feeling burnt out, distracted, and out of fresh ideas? In every creative person's life, there are times when you lose the energy, joy, and freedom you had when you were first starting out. From the recent art school graduate to the retiree searching for their creative third act, we all need help returning to the excitement, the sense of discovery, and the raw creativity of a child at play. Don't Call It Art is a creative liberation handbook for looking at the world with fresh eyes, unlearning what you've learned, and making new leaps in your life and work.

Since his breakout New York Times bestseller Steal Like an Artist, Austin Kleon has been one of the world's leading teachers of creativity. His books have sold nearly two million copies and translated into 30 languages. Now, in his most encouraging and inspiring book yet, Kleon shares ten rejuvenating lessons he learned from being a studio assistant to the artists closest to his his two young sons. Kleon discovered that nurturing his kids taught him how to create the conditions under which his own – and everyone's creativity – can thrive.

Don't Call It Art offers inspiring advice for readers looking to free their creative spirit

Permission to be badBelieve in magicThrow out the instructionsShow and tellThink outside your head
Illustrated in Kleon's signature style of illustrations, quotes, stories and examples, Don't Call It Art is a blast of creative energy that will give you permission to play, make a mess, and venture beyond your imagination – and ultimately, to feel the unbridled joy of creating in your own unique way.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Self Help, Parenting, Crafts

208 pages, Hardcover

Published June 2, 2026

About the author

I’m a writer who draws. I make art with words and books with pictures. Author of Steal Like An Artist and other bestsellers. Visit my website: http://austinkleon.com/

Reviews

[Catherine]

This was quick to read - the pages and illustrations zip along - but it'll take time for all its wisdom to percolate and become part of my creative practice. It's also a book I'll be returning to, to remind myself of its pearls! Especially the importance of playtime (so that I don't fall into a play-deficit, which I now see could hinder my creative life just as much as a sleep-deficit); permission to be an amateur, not a master (I never thought about the literal meaning of the word 'amateur' until reading this book! The etymology links it to 'lover'); and the potential of third spaces. On the latter, I particularly enjoyed the discussion of diners and libraries, and the suggestion to Parent Like a Librarian - yes! That's exactly how the book works on both levels: on one level for our inner kid, and on another as a really helpful guide to nurturing the creativity of the kids in your life. Kleon's past work is a hard act to follow, but I'd say he's been successful, and I'll be drawing upon his philosophy to inform my own approach to creative work.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book, I think, is for people who are creative, maybe drawing, painting or writing, and who probably have young children. This is my entirely judgemental judgement. Thank you to NetGalley for providing this book for my consideration, this is all my own rambling, honest and personal opinion. Ok this request was an error. I thought it would be about creativity, I think it actually is but not the type of creativity I enjoy. I enjoy, dancing, gardening, knitting and reading and I’m not sure I felt seen by this book. It annoyed the hell out of me. At times it was chilled and then it would talk about your “work”. It sort of felt like an emotional support book for an artist who has had a breakdown and can’t paint anymore. There are many contradictory statements which was so annoying. There are pages with shouting, chapters are introduced with full capital letters and I wonder if it’s a UK thing but I found it annoying. There was cute drawings throughout and I wonder if I’d have enjoyed it more if I had young children. At times, when there was mention of the getting the child to use a pencil properly before they got to school and ruining their writing and drawing I was incandescent with rage. It felt like the author was intrinsically going against their own ethos!
So many of the suggests felt banal. On reflection this book is not for me, it’s not going to help me become more creative… and yet I’m thinking no I am creative dam you just because I don’t fit into your narrow concept of creativity and art. I will show you. Then I wonder actually is this actually not a 1 ⭐️book maybe actually it is 4 ⭐️ because whilst annoying I’ve come out of it thinking I’m creative and wanting to actually go with my own creativity rather than a book that tells me how to draw a cat. 🐈‍⬛
On reflection, make sure you understand what this book is like, it shouts, it has quotes throughout out from a wide range of people. It talks a lot about “kids”, to me it feels American but I’m guessing if you are American that’s not a bad thing. I, foolishly, thought there were 10 exercises to help build my creativity, this was not true but I’m going out now to be creative in my garden so it seems to have achieved its aim… although it also might not have had one. 🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿

[Doctor Gaines · Rating 3 out of 5]

*Thank you Tarcher Books for the review copy*

This is actually a one star book for me but I want to be nice since I was given a free copy. Put simply, I am not the audience for this book. On paper, one would think so: lifelong multifaceted artist who has been making a living full time as such for the last seven years, painter, award-winning filmmaker, musician & published author. (pretentious much? jesus christ we get it)

This book is for those who would *like* to make cool things, but have never actually done so. This book is for the normies, the uncreative, for those who have never had an original idea in their life & who think that reading a book will provide them with one. This book is for the bored stay at home housewife who makes fuzzball and hot glue crafts to sell at the flea market, or for the Instagram makeup influencer who buys this at the airport to skim through on a flight because she dreams of deeming herself an artist.

Any true artist, and by that all I simply mean is someone who is currently, actively making things that are even remotely interesting or unique, already knows the majority of the extremely generic information in this book. This is like the Sesame Street version of Rick Rubin‘s book on Art, except even that is too generous because *that* book would still have some interesting points.

I can’t help but notice that the author just seems to be making derivatives of his first work, and from a cursory glance, all four of his books look essentially the same in content and substance. But hey, 2 million sold copies don’t lie, and if I had struck gold on something, I would probably keep mining that vein as well. Flannery O’Connor once talked about how you can make an extraordinary amount of money if you write badly enough.

I know I’m being extra mean, but books like this just make me bristle in particular because they feel like such a network TV version of trying to get at something so deep, beautiful and profound that words fail to describe it—we’re talking about the source essence of life itself here and the inexpressible wonder of this mysterious existence, and the ability to create tiny little moments of meaning that make us feel more joy and less alone and like someone out there understands us because we witness what they made. Now distill all that down for the lowest common denominator human and make it into a generic ass cliffnotes.

The good parts: I recognize that he was inspired by and made this with his kids, which is sweet. As a father myself, I get it, it’s cute, and yes kids are genuinely a great reminder to be wild and unabashed in our expressions, and it would serve us all well to be more childlike, curious and playful in all areas of our lives. There are a few interesting observations and points, and a few reminders or words of encouragement that were pretty solid.

I can see a world in which a person, creative or not, could find useful, inspiring and empowering messages in this book that spur them to make something cool, or at the very least to get them past their own blocks and limitations in hesitating to do so—that, of itself, is a good thing and an admirable intent of the book.

Lastly, the unique formatting & integration of art throughout is a nice touch, I always appreciate an unconventional approach and the work that goes into laying out every single page differently.

I hope to god the author doesn’t read these and if you do Austin, god bless you brother and I’m glad you seem to be having fun in this life, I’m glad that a lot of people like your books even though I am not one of them, and I mean shit you’re doin better than me financially probably, so i mean you got the upper hand in a sense. All the best (and getting a handmade print from you with the book was a supremely nice touch, hella respect for that).

[Ben Fridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

"In the book Art & Fear, David Bayles and Ted Orland tell a parable about a ceramics teacher who split his students into two groups. "All those on the left side of the studio, he said, would be graded solely on the quantity of the work they produced, all those on the right solely on its quality." The teacher graded the quantity group by the pounds of pottery they produced, and the quality group by the one "perfect" pot they created. "The works of highest quality were all produced by the group being graded for quantity," Bayles and Orland wrote. "It seems that while the quantity group was busily churning out piles of work-and learning from their mistakes—the 'quality group had sat theorizing about perfection, and in the end had little more to show for their efforts."

[Natalie Park · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

[Bonita. E · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Getting down on the floor and playing with a kid will give you a fresh perspective on life - Borrow a kid and let them teach you how to be alive in the world"

The idea of an adult that stuck in life and gain inspiration and learn from kids is so heart-warming. I feel lots wiser and happier whenever I spent time with my nephews, they bring lots of new perspectives towards life. This is my fourth book from Austin Kleon and I first started reading "Steal Like an Artist" years ago when I just began my adult life and it feels nostalgic to finally read his book again.

When I was a kid, I promised myself I will not become a dull and bitter adult, I want to keep my child like wonder and see the world as a wonderful place full of possibilities, that's the only way to know if I wins life. Sometimes its an easy thing to do but sometimes its a very hard challenge to do so. What's with the war going on, problematic government, some dreams that's not realized some disappointment towards people we once loved, how to maintain that wonder and love towards life?

I think getting to know ourselves is a life long journey, we grow, we change but there are things that remain the same, and this book, to some degree, reminds me of who I used to. There's nothing new with any of this content if we are being honest, but its a gentle reminder nonetheless. While the book talking about Art, as a non-artist myself I still can learn a lot from it as Kleon talk more about life,

Thank you Penguin Press UK – Allen Lane, Particular, Pelican, Penguin Classics | Particular Books and Netgalley for the ARC, this review is my honest review.

[Juli Bondor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short and fun, as I expected based on Austin Kleon’s previous books. It’s not as concise as ‘Steal like an artist‘, but it does the job. I think you can apply the principles not only to things you physically create, but to intangible self-expression too (and indeed, to life as whole).

I enjoyed some of the ideas more, some less, but in general, this parenting mindset is one of the few that speaks to me and stands apart from today’s mostly perfectionist, oppressive approach towards kids.

There are a lot of quotes in the book and it was a bit annoying, because the mention of all the names broke up the flow of the text for me. However, the book reminded me of this George Orwell quote in a similar spirit, so here you go:

“If you want to be a grocer, or a general, or a politician, or a judge, you will invariably become it; that is your punishment. If you never know what you want to be, if you live what some might call the dynamic life but what I will call the artistic life, if each day you are unsure of who you are and what you know you will never become anything, and that is your reward.”

If you want to live the artistic life, this book is pointing towards the right direction. And remember, living the artistic life has nothing to do with being an ‘artist’ in the traditional sense ;)

[James B · Rating 5 out of 5]

A huge thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced reader copy (ARC) of this book.

​Don't Call It Art was a completely refreshing surprise. I went into this read knowing absolutely nothing about Austin Kleon or his previous work, but I came away feeling like I’ve added invaluable new tools to both my parenting and creativity toolboxes.

​What I loved most is how practical and immediate the advice is. We have already implemented some of the ideas, like making art materials easily accessible to the kids. This simple shift has led to an explosion of creativity in our house; our collection of drawings is massive, and even our one-year-old is getting in on the action! It has also inspired me to sit down and draw with them. Together, we’re all genuinely improving. Right now, our living room is happily covered in pictures of Princesses, Mario, and Bluey characters.

​This is going to be a Day 1 purchase for me when the physical copy releases. I’m incredibly intrigued by Kleon's philosophy and can't wait to dive into his backlist. Highly recommended for parents, educators, or anyone looking to spark a little more everyday creativity.

[Books Before Bs · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘Don’t Call It Art’ by Austin Kleon is a must-read for all creatives, especially those who find themselves stuck or falling out of love with their pursuits. I’ll definitely be picking up a copy and keeping it in plain sight so I can refer to it whenever I start to take my art too seriously or I’m in need of a creative boost.

In terms of the content, none of the tips are groundbreaking, but they are presented in a way that is clear and memorable, and more importantly, actionable and inspiring. The book is also just fun to read, and I love the inclusion of all the artwork and quotes.

Though geared towards creatives, the tips are useful for life in general as well. I don’t think readers will necessarily learn anything new by reading this book, but that isn’t the point—the point is to unlearn all our bad habits and unhelpful thoughts, and to see the world and to create like we did as children.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Austin Kleon, and Particular Books for the ARC.

[Keely · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for letting me read and review this book.

The cover of this book caught my attention, with its bright cover and simple title. Then I read the description and I knew I'd like to read it.

This was a quick and easy read, split into sections so I'd imagine a proper paperback version would be nice to flick through and keep on the coffee table.

I've personally highlighted several parts to come back to-including allowing yourself to quit or move on from something you aren't enjoying (whether it's a book or a project) and not feel any guilt.

Also loved reading about 'wasting time'...... it's easy to feel guilty for not being productive enough and for mucking about/having fun for the sake of it.

This book isn't just about art, but lots of other parts of our life. Family, work etc.

Great book! Thank you.

[Toni · Rating 4 out of 5]

The aim of “Don’t Call It Art” is to open up the reader’s creativity akin to our childhood selves, without the rules and expectation placed on us as adults.

It is a book of lessons and reflections that were fun to read. It made me remember when I wrote poetry and drew pictures, just because I could and not because I was great at it, which I haven’t done for years. Why don’t we make more time for play and creativity as adults?

I enjoyed reading this short book. It’s not quite what I expected from the description, but that didn’t stop me from racing through it, making a few notes on how I can bring more childlike qualities into my day-to-day life, and thinking about who I could buy it for as a gift!

Thanks to Austin Kleon, Penguin Press UK and NetGalley for this ARC in return for an honest review.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read several reviews of "Don't Call it Art" where the reviewer has said this is a parenting book in disguise! Actually, I am inclined to agree to some extent, but that certainly did not detract from my enjoyment of this book. , Austin Kleon, father of two, states his belief that one should approach creativity as a child does, with no preconceptions or rules of "the right way" to make art. Rules can be a restraint not only on the creative process, but on the development of problem solving.
I enjoyed the visual aspect of this book, as well as the quotations. All in all, a quick, interesting read. Thank you to NetGalley for the oppotunity to read and review this book.

[Mary Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Throughly enjoyed this book and the insights and perspective shifts it left me with. I frequently say I am just playing around…experimenting, and this book has as helped me see the immense value in doing just that. I struggle trying to come up with a vision of where I am wanting to take a creative idea, and reading this book is helping liberated me from that need. MORE play is what I need rather than scouring the internet trying to find the vision. Glad this book is now in my library as it will certainly be a one I revisit. Perhaps I also need to seek out a child to create with ;-)

[Kerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this short and quirky compilation of ideas. It works as both a lament about creativity and a parenting manual. In it, Kleon recounts his experiences as a father, punctuates the pages with graffiti-style information, and quotes from many people. It won't take you long to read, but it does contain some thoughtful and inspirational ideas that basically say, in not so many words, 'nurture your creativity, and nurture the creativity of your children'. That, to me is fair enough. My thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

[Katy Wheatley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this. A short but fantastically optimistic read which as Kleon says is like a disguised parenting manual that reminds us of the power of the child in all of us and their ability to access and create art without all the awful noise that comes along with the efforts of adults. It's a book I will return to again and again and it's pithy enough to give you what you need immediately without having to wade through pages of exposition.

[Christina Vourcos · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Book for Educators and Artists!

I came to this book as someone who has found value in Austin Kleon’s books as a creative. I love writing and making visual art. But what I didn’t realize that this book would also help me as an educator. Who knew that parents and educators were similar? I’m not a parent, but as an educator, I related a lot to what Austin was bringing forward. So I felt like this book was written for all sides of me. Thank you, Austin.

[Quharrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

fun read

This is Austin Kleon at his finest. He tackles a subject that most people would not even know where to begin writing about, and he does it really well. It stays grounded and does not feel like a traditional parenting book, even as it still gives you some parenting-book vibes. I thought it was a fun read. It is quick, with a few chapters here and there that will make you think about how you can apply the ideas in your life.

[Emily Labosky · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a delightful and insightful book! We can learn a lot from kids about creativity. They don’t call it art. They just play and have fun. It inspires me. Looking forward to craft with my girlfriend today and not take myself too seriously

[Jen Dary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Always a huge fan of Austin Kleon and this was no exception. Took me 2 days to read the book; in the meantime, I’ve sold my dining room set (to make space for a better table for art), decided to rearrange my office and start a Zine with my kids. Ack! This book is fire! :)

[Sarah Gerbers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Austin Kleon, the creativity guru who snaps us all out of our creative funks.
Seriously, this (along with his other books) is a must read. My favorite part? “Look for the people who are having fun and be like them.”
I’m here for this advice, Austin!

[Aishwarya Iyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

What's I love about this book is the way it captures how kids create- with total abandon, and different to who's watching. Reading it, I notice how stifled I've become hesitating before I share my art art and second-guessing everything I create.

[Mia Caven · Rating 5 out of 5]

arguably, Kleon's best work.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this more than I thought I would when I set out but I'm still not sure it's what I thought it was about! Thanks to the author, NetGalley and publishers for the ARC.

[Brendan O'Meara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is great fun and fits right alongside Austin's other work. Whatever inspiration you might need, you can always reach for one of Austin's "albums," hit "play," and get what you need.

[createitlibrarian (Amanda) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some great ways to help get you past your inner critic

[Anick Globensky-bromow · Rating 5 out of 5]

A primer on creativity inspired by kids! How to go back to play and rekindle your creative spirit. I loved ever minute!

[Becky Barnett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Always trying to make more, with less pressure

[Xandra O'Neill · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always enjoy a book of inspiration and wisdom from Austin Kleon.

[Mcvalens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always great nuggets of art and life wisdom

[Jenny Lawson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely cure for artistic burnout.