What is an idiom?
An idiom is a special phrase where the words together mean something different than what each word means on its own—like a secret code! They are not meant to be taken literally.
For example, “It’s raining cats and dogs” doesn’t mean actual cats and dogs are falling from the sky; it just means it’s raining really hard!
![II_3D[48].png](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/45b0ad_df36211cbc964e56ba8491550905be4c~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_566,h_487,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/45b0ad_df36211cbc964e56ba8491550905be4c~mv2.png)
You can purchase a copy of Illustrated Idioms and their origins at your local bookstore or on Amazon.
I challenge you to make your very own artwork that explains an idiom in a funny way.
Just be sure to add something three-dimensional (either made or found) to your art—like this sitting duck’s paintbrush bristle hair or the Styrofoam rock and painted PVC pipe trapping our little lizard friend stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Get creative and have fun!
Once your creation is complete, ask your grown-up to take a picture and email it to me at helensidioms@gmail.com or submit below.
I will pick one winning photo every month (12) for a year, and those winners will receive a free copy of Illustrated Idioms and their origins donated in their name to their school library.
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About Helen Sandow
GET A COPY!
You can purchase a copy of Illustrated Idioms and their origins at your local bookstore or on Amazon.
As a watercolor artist who previously worked in miniatures, crafting room boxes and dioramas, it seemed only natural to integrate the two when I started my “Animals Can Talk” series to illustrate idioms. The fun part of these 3D watercolors was figuring out what elements I could add into each painting. I would dream of what a “bull in a china shop” would look like—of course, he would be an angry bull with broken dishes or pottery under his feet. A worried chicken with real broken eggshells was my way of seeing “walking on eggshells.” I either fabricated or found odd items that I integrated into each of my paintings. Searching for these pieces was an integral part of my process.