"The Noisy Paint Box," by Barb Rosenstock, and More From "The Noisy Paint Box" Why is it that little children, who romp gleefully though museum halls in their preschool years, grow into kids who would rather do anything than walk through an exhibition? If only they knew how much they have in common with the men and women who made the work on the gallery walls, rebels all. Three new books, one each on Vasily Kandinsky, Alexander Calder and Pablo Picasso, present the artists in imaginative and appealing ways that should leave adults surprised by what they learn and children feeling they've encountered brilliant kindred spirits. In "The Noisy Paint Box: The Colors and Sounds of Kandinsky's Abstract Art," by Barb Rosenstock with illustrations by Mary GrandPré, Kandinsky's Russian parents stress conformity. Young Vasya, with his big head and protruding ears, is bored and dutiful in his studies of math, science, history and piano. As he sits through formal dinners or spends hour after hour over his books, his eyes practically roll back in his head as he struggles to stay awake. From "Alexander Calder: Meet the Artist!" Vasya looks a little familiar. Painted by GrandPré, illustrator of the original American editions of "Harry Potter," this dark-haired boy with an interesting pallor wields his paintbrush like a wand. Lacking Harry's lightning-bolt scar, he's nonetheless marked by a mixed blessing: To him, colors are "noisy." In an author's note, Rosenstock writes that Kandinsky, who recalled hearing a hissing sound when he first mixed colors together, is thought to have experienced synesthesia. As Rosenstock puts it, his paint box - a fortuitous gift from a kind aunt - "trilled like an orchestra tuning up for a magical symphony." GrandPré employs muted purples and blues to depict Vasya's dull childhood world. Once he starts painting, the pages come alive with bright swirls of color that fly around his head like strands of melody. Eventually, Kandinsky abandons his career in law, studies painting and, frustrated with the limitations of figurative work, grows "brave enough" to create "something entirely new - abstract art." From "Pablo Picasso: Meet the Artist!" Children who enjoy "The Noisy Paint Box" might want to see Kandinsky's paintings in person. In New York City, the Neue Galerie's temporary Kandinsky exhibition is on view through Feb. 10 (only children 12 and older are allowed entry), but Rosenstock notes that both the Guggenheim and the Museum of Modern Art hold many of his works in their permanent collections. Even those who aren't inspired to visit a museum will take away the lesson of Kandinsky's life: Listen to what excites you and follow its call. For children ready to learn about artists" lives and work in greater detail, Princeton Architectural Press begins publishing its "Meet the Artist!" series in February. The first books in the series introduce young readers to the work of Alexander Calder and Pablo Picasso. Both books, written and illustrated by Patricia Geis, are vibrantly colored and interactive, with cutouts, pop-ups, sliding tabs and opportunities to explore and mimic some of the methods the artists employed. Calder's fascination with toys, mobiles and what he called "stabiles" - essentially rigid sheet-metal sculptures - makes his work well suited to a young audience, and to the paper engineering of pop-ups. The book includes a delicate pop-up circus with cutout figures readers can use to stage their own performances; an ingenious metal chain, attached to the book at the top and bottom of a page, that can be shaped in the mode of Calder's wire sculpture of Josephine Baker; and a three-dimensional model of "Saurien," a red stabile Calder created in 1975, which stands at Madison Avenue and 57th Street. Picasso - who according to Geis once said, "What the great artists struggle to reach, the child creates naturally" - is, like Calder, an artist whose work immediately appeals to children, and the author makes the most of her subject. Among the interactive elements she incorporates are pages with flaps that reveal astonishingly precocious paintings made by Picasso at the tender ages of 7, 14, 15, 16 and 17. Somehow the act of flipping the pages introduces an element of drama, surprise and fun to viewing the works. Children can also try on a primitive mask, compare the paintings of Braque and Picasso in tiny booklets, pluck the strings of a three-dimensional guitar and gaze at themselves in a folded cardboard mirror - to see things the Cubist way, from multiple perspectives. The Colors and Sounds of Kandinsky's Abstract Art By Barb Rosenstock Illustrated by Mary GrandPré 40 pp. Alfred A. Knopf. $17.99. Picture book; ages 4 and up Written and illustrated by Patricia Geis 18 pp. Princeton Architectural Press. $24.95. Pop-up book; ages 8 and up