This paper argues that a major objective of art in the schools is to enhance visual perception and that there is a close correlation between school achievement and visual perception scores. Children's art growth is discussed, and it is argued that dittoed drawings and coloring books are harmful to this growth because they promote a narrow and negative concept of what art is about. Art involves the acquisition of complex perceptual and cognitive skills that are related to skills needed in reading. A study designed to find out how art affected scores of children on the Metropolitan Readiness Tests is described. The findings suggested that children's reading readiness could be improved through art lessons that stressed the inclusion of details. An exemplary art lesson is outlined, and it is concluded that the visual arts are basic to reading because they develop the ability to differentiate details and to integrate them into progressive orderliness. (TS)