These Kids Are So Lucky. Their Mom Draws Animal Art on Their Lunch Napkins!

The tradition of messages written on napkins to be placed lovingly inside of school lunches probably goes back as far as school lunches themselves. I, for one, remember fondly how my own mother would doodle a little heart or a flower on a napkin for me along with a heartfelt, “I love you,” and then slide it in next to my Cabbage Patch Dolls thermos. Ah, memories.

I loved my mom’s notes, which leads me to believe that artist Nina Levy’s two sons must really love hers. Levy is a photographer and sculptor, but also excels in the medium of paint marker on napkin. Drawing a new napkin for her sons’ lunches each day, Levy creates incredible works of art out of one of the more mundane eating accouterments a lunch box could contain. She tries to incorporate the things that her sons, ages seven and eleven, are the most into, which are animals and comic books more often than not.

She’s been creating the miniature, portable works of art since 2006 and features each of them on her blog as, due to the nature of a napkin, the works aren’t meant to last forever. With so many amazing, animal inspired pieces, it’s hard to choose a favorite. Meant to be sweet tokens of affection, they’re still awesome pieces of art and like any awesome art they can be funny, thought provoking and beautiful. All on a napkin! Color us impressed.

Fluffy, the class hamster, in Tom Cruises’s Edge of Tomorrow mech suit. Having a class pet is designed to teach kids compassion and empathy, but with the pet in question risking injury, illness and stress from the experience, a stuffed pet would be a more appropriate mascot.

After being shown photos online of Slow Lorises by her son, Levy was horrified to see that these rare animals are often cruelly mistreated and should never be kept as pets.

Inspired by the comic book Spawn (and a friend’s dog named Dylan), it’s Spawn Dog!

Cerberus would seem a lot less intimidating guarding the gates to the underworld if he looked like an adopted beagle mix.

A Tasmanian devil getting its Winter Soldier treatment from the Captain America movie. Listed as endangered, it’s now found only in the wild on the island state of Tasmania in Australia.

If it came down to a match between Kung Fu Panda and this guy, my money is on Kung Fu Hedgehog!

The entire gang is wishing the kids a happy holiday lunch. With estimates showing that there are about 70 million stray animals in the U.S., it’s vital to Support your local shelter and to spay and neuter your pets. Even the Grinch would agree!

When a request came in for a more feminine napkin by a classmate, Levy was almost stymied. We think she hit it out of the park!

This lion themed napkin didn’t go into a lunchbox … it did, however, win the top cash prize in the Tuaca Napkin Competition. Lions are facing dwindling numbers in the wild due to trophy hunting, habitat loss and poaching, making it more important than ever to raise awareness.

Ishmael the squid from the Lio comic strip is a pretty silly guy. Cephalopods outside of the funnies are actually being caught as bycatch from the fishing industry, demonstrating a huge need for change in current commercial fishing practices.

Saber Toothed Tigers are extinct. Hopefully, with the large amount of endangered tigers currently fighting for survival, napkin art of the future will only be able to show tigers that are flourishing in the wild due to successful Conservation efforts.

Should another name for this ‘sniper kitty’ napkin potentially be, ‘adorableness from above?’

Image source: ninaslevy