art

Bridget’s Beret:

| Tasha

9780805087758

Bridget’s Beret by Tom Lichtenheld

Bridget loved to draw as much as other kids love ice cream.  She had a lot of art supplies, but her most important one was her beret that made her feel like a real artist.  But one day, her beret was caught by the wind and flew away.  Bridget searched for her beret, reported it missing and even offered a reward for its safe return, but it was not found.  Unfortunately, along with her beret, Bridget lost her ability to do art.  She did try other hats to see if they would inspire her, but none of them did.   Bridget was left unable to do art at all; she had artist block.  A few days later, her sister asked her to make a sign for their lemonade stand.  Bridget tried to refuse, but was reminded that it was a sign, not art.  So she started making a sign.  And once she started, she couldn’t stop.  She made sign after sign, several in the styles of famous artists.  Bridget was back to being an artist, beret or no.

The text here is laugh-out-loud funny at times with a charming wit.  There are several series of illustrations that really add humor, including the series of images of Bridget trying different hats.  Her paintings that reference more famous works are also very funny.  Nicely, there is an appendix that shows the original works.  Bridget is an engaging character, reacting to the loss of her beloved hat in an honest and childlike way.   Watching a young person genuinely work through a crisis is great, as is the fact that she did it herself without adults offering the solution. 

A clever take on artist block and the power of art, this book will appeal to adults as well as children.  Appropriate for ages 4-8.

Reviewed from copy received from Henry Holt.

Art & Max: Another Wiesner Winner

| Tasha

Art & Max by David Wiesner

I always approach a new Wiesner book with huge expectations.  I mean, this is the three-time Caldecott medalist!  I guarantee this will not disappoint, no matter how high your expectations are.

Arthur is quite a painter.  He does portraits of lizards as they pose for him.  Max wants to learn and Arthur is willing to teach him.  The first step is Max figuring out what to paint.  Arthur grandly suggests that Max could paint him.  So Max does exactly that, with deep blue and bright yellow, he paints Arthur right in the face.  Arthur gets cross and bursts free of his paint-filled skin only to find that the colors have stayed and now his skin is chalk and pastels.  When a blowing fan won’t fix it, Arthur takes a drink of water to feel better.  It erases his color, leaving just a line drawing behind that Max quickly unravels.  Now it is up to Max to figure out how to get Arthur back.

Wiesner’s only text in this picture book is Arthur and Max’s dialogue with each other.  The illustrations really tell the story.  Wiesner has a great sense of comic timing from the first spurt of paint onto Arthur all the way through to Max rebuilding him in a very simplistic style.  The moments are ones that will have young readers and listeners laughing out loud.  As they are enjoying the story, they are being taught about the way that different media react, work and appear.  It is a very skillful and clever introduction to art styles and formats. 

Exceptionally, the book is also about creating art yourself.  It is about a painter with his own distinct style working with a younger artist.  It is about restraint meeting freedom.  About creativity and letting loose and what happens when you do.  It is a book that has many layers, several of them from paint.

A colorful, dynamic picture book that embodies what it is also conveying.  This picture book needs to get in the hands of your art teachers, children who enjoy art, and anyone looking for a good laugh.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from Clarion Books.

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Doodlebug

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Doodlebug by Karen Romano Young

Dodo has been expelled from her last school because she tried to sell her Ritalin to other students in her class.  Now her family is moving from LA to San Francisco.  Her parents are hoping for a fresh start for their careers and for Dodo.  Her younger sister Momo is angry about the move, and Dodo is unsure that it will make any difference at all.  On the trip, Dodo discovers that she loves to draw, that doodling makes her calmer and better able to deal with the drive and the move.  Dodo starts a new school, changing her nickname to Doodlebug.  Her doodling is accepted in some classes and forbidden in others.  Momo is desperate to join the school’s choir, so she tries several stunts, like singing into the PA system of the school.  Both girls may have pushed it a bit too far in their new school.  Will Dodo be expelled again?

A fabulous combination of journal, graphic novel and story, this book allows readers to really understand what it is to be a visual learner and to have ADD.  Dodo is a great character, fully developed and complex.  Just as wonderfully drawn are her family members, even the new cat, Sven.  They are all complicated and interesting, portraying a real, multicultural family dealing with change and opportunity. 

Young’s creativity is fully on display here with pages filled with a variety of lettering, lots of drawings and plenty of forward momentum.  Several touches will resonate with young artists who will find the names of the pens used to make the black and white illustrations.  They will get plenty of inspiration to create their own journals, capture their own lives and adventures. 

Highly recommended, this book will be enjoyed by readers who enjoyed the Joey Pigza series, Amelia’s Notebook, and Diary of a Wimpy Kid.  Appropriate for ages 9-13.

Reviewed from copy received from Feiwel and Friends.

Also reviewed by:

Check out Karen Romano Young’s website.

Chalk

| Tasha

Chalk by Bill Thomson

In this wordless book, three children discover a bag hanging from the mouth of the dinosaur toy in the park.  Inside is sidewalk challk, very special sidewalk chalk.  When one child selects yellow and draws a sun on the wet pavement, it turns real, leaving the drawing and heading into the sky, ending the rain.  Another child draws orange butterflies, which also lift from the ground and into the air.  Excitement unfolds when the third child draws a dinosaur which comes to life, chasing them around the playground.  The quick-thinking child draws a cloud with rain coming out of it and saves the day.  Told in rich photo-realistic illustrations, this book is a magical journey into imagination.

A wordless book that is not strictly for preschoolers is a rare find.  One that is told with such energy and style is even more rare.  Thomson has created a book that is inviting, mesmerizing and unique.  Told in such a way that the story flows through the illustrations, needing no narration, this book is superb.  The realistic illustrations add to the modern feel of the book as well as the action and surprise of the magic.  In fact, the juxtaposition of magic with photo-realistic illustrations is what elevates this book to another level.  Beautifully designed and envisioned.

Highly recommended, this book will fly off the shelves by the strength of that cover alone.  It can also be used as the basis for art and writing projects in a classroom setting beautifully.  Appropriate for a wide range of ages, 3-8.

Reviewed from copy received from Marshall Cavendish.

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A Beach Tail

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A Beach Tail by Karen Lynn Williams, illustrated by Floyd Cooper

When Gregory drew a Sandy Lion in the sand on the beach, his father suggested that Sandy needs a tail.  He also told Gregory not to go in the water and not to leave Sandy.  Gregory drew a tail with his drawing stick.  When he came to a jellyfish on shore, he draw a loop around it.  He went up and over an old sandcastle.  He zigzagged around a horseshoe crab.  He swirled around the hole of a ghost crab.  He wrote his name.  Then he turned around and realized how far he was from his father!  How could be find him on the huge beach?  Gregory followed Sandy’s tail back to the beginning all on his own.

This is a story of a beautiful day at the beach combined with a boy’s imagination.  The words use some repetition of the father’s instructions not to go into the water or leave Sandy.  I also appreciate a book where a child moves some distance away from a parent with no fear and uses his own ingenuity to return safely. 

It is the pastel illustrations by Cooper that really bring this book to life and raise it to another level.  The entire book is done with the detail you see on the cover image above.  Gregory’s face reflects his moods, his intentness, his creativity so clearly.  The use of a fairly limited tan and brown palette really works here, uniting the boy and the beach without losing either one of them.  The soft grainy illustrations capture the gritty feel of a sandy beach.

You will almost be able to smell the salt air with these illustrations.  A vacation in a book, it is appropriate for ages 3-6.

Reviewed from library copy.

Check out Karen Lynn Williams’ blog and Floyd Cooper’s website.

Chester’s Masterpiece

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Chester’s Masterpiece with NO help from Melanie Watt

In this third Chester book, Chester has completely taken over and is writing the book all by himself.  He has taken Melanie’s art supplies and her computer mouse.  But writing a children’s book isn’t as easy as Chester thinks.  He has to come up with original ideas, select a genre, illustrate the book, and then work on a happy ending rather than a gloomy one.  Luckily Melanie is right there with helpful criticism along the way, even demonstrating her skills as an artist with just a pencil.

I know this is going to sound odd, but I love the dynamics between Melanie and Chester.  Their quibbling is such fun to watch.  Here Melanie is confined to writing post-it notes to Chester as he creates his masterpiece.  Along the way, readers learn about what goes into creating a children’s book, though they will be having far too much fun to notice that they are learning things too.  Watts’ illustrations are done with such differing styles that it is easy to forget she is also drawing Chester.  The book design is a large part of its success and that is thanks to her art.

Highly recommended, but make sure you enjoy the other two Chester books too.  All three are such fun.  Appropriate for ages 5-8.

Reviewed from copy received from publisher.

Cezanne and the Apple Boy

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Cezanne and the Apple Boy by Laurence Anholt

Paul had not seen his father for some time and then he got a letter inviting him to join his father in the countryside of Provence.  Paul took a train all alone and found his father partway up a mountain painting.  Paul had the same name as his father, Paul Cezanne.  When Paul found his father, he was alarmed because his father was so big, so wild looking.  But his soft voice spoke quietly to Paul, though his father would not shake hands because he hated touching other people.  The two traveled together, drawing and painting the countryside, but no one was interested in Cezanne’s new style of painting.  Until one day they met an art dealer who took all of the paintings off to his gallery.  Just as Paul and his father were running out of money, the art dealer returned with funds from selling the paintings and encouraged Cezanne to create more. 

This is a book that celebrates so many things all at once.  It celebrates the connection of father and son, the undoubting love of a child and their faith in their parent.  It celebrates Cezanne himself and his art.  It celebrates the countryside of Provence.  And it celebrates determinedly following your passion and gift even when the rest of the world doesn’t understand.  It’s a lot for a picture book to carry, but this book does it very well and with apparent ease.

Anholt has written a well-rounded and complete story from a summer in Cezanne’s life.  Though the story, he reveals the art of Cezanne, mimicking the Cezanne style in his own depictions of the Provence landscape. The illustrations are a pleasure as they reveal so much of the story told in the text as well as the story of the art itself.

This book will work well for elementary art classes studying Cezanne.  In fact, most children will want to see Cezanne’s work after reading this glimpse of a fascinating painter and his son.  Appropriate for ages 4-7.

Reviewed from library copy.

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Yellowstone Moran

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Yellowstone Moran: Painting the American West by Lita Judge

Thomas Moran was a painter who lived in the city.  When he met Dr. Hayden, a geologist, who was heading into Yellowstone, he didn’t want to admit that he had never been on a horse, never shot a gun, and never slept outside.  Moran joined the expedition in the summer of 1871 and learned on the trail to ride a horse.  Tom befriended the team photographer on the difficult journey.  After weeks of travel, they entered Yellowstone: a place of sulfur smells, white rock, gorges, waterfalls, and wonder.  Tom painted everything he saw, recording in small paintings and sketches with notes.  When he returned home after a harrowing exit from Yellowstone, he painted large canvases capturing the grandeur of this new landscape.

A delightful mixture of adventure and art, this book will intrigue children interested in both subjects.  Judge uses humor, drama and a great sense of pacing to tell a story that will keep young reader riveted.  Just the idea that the United States had not been fully explored in 1817 will astound some children.  Judge’s paintings that accompany the story offer a sense of the place itself, without attempting to mimic Moran’s style.  The illustrations help create the sense of journey, danger and amazement.

Recommended for art classes, but also as a fascinating biography in picture book form.  Appropriate for ages 6-9.

Reviewed from copy provided by publisher.

You can check out Lita Judge’s blog to see some of her illustrations in sketch form.

Nonfiction Monday: Building on Nature

| Tasha

 

Building on Nature: the Life of Antoni Gaudi by Rachel Rodriguez, illustrated by Julie Paschkis

This picture book biography of the renowned Spanish architect and artist is a true celebration of his art and gift.  Readers follow Gaudi from his sickly boyhood to his dreams of rebuilding cathedrals and his study of architecture.  Then, of course, Gaudi goes his own way, covering a house in colorful tiles, creating ramps for horses to reach a stable in the basement, and making balconies from what looks like huge bones.  All of his buildings are unique and unlike anyone else’s.  They turn the rules on their head and are filled with imaginative touches, both small and big.  The book ends with a fascinating author’s note, links to see photos of the buildings online, and a bibliography.

Rodriguez takes a complicated subject and lengthy life and distills them down to just the right level for young readers.  She excels as using only a few words, not over-explaining things, and letting Gaudi’s work speak for itself.  As she describes Gaudi’s buildings, her prose is almost poetry.  Paschkis’ gouache illustrations are vivid, colorful and dynamic.  Her work embraces the swirling lines of Gaudi’s celebrating him in ever whorl. 

Recommended for art classes in elementary schools, this picture book captures the essence of Gaudi with style and color.  Appropriate for ages 5-8.

Reviewed from copy received from publisher.

Check out the interview with illustrator Julie Paschkis on Jacket Knack.