Amy Newbold

In this thoughtful, beautiful book, we are introduced to the likes of artists James Whistler, Claude Monet, Dorothea Tanning, M.C. Escher, Jean-Michel Basquiat just to name of few through the styles of their art. It is a clever tribute and children's book as it uses the idea of how each artist would paint a monster using each of their techniques it shows the child who reads it their style and vision of the world and gives the glimpse of perception and the underlying importance of how we perceive the world. Children would love this idea of seeing the world is different through each of our own eyes. It also gives a brief biography of each artist in the back of the book for further research.… (más)

This book talks to children in a clear-cut (but not condescending) manner about the nature of art. It starts with a simple premise - how would you draw a snowman if asked? It then shows how famous artists throughout the ages might represent a snowman, using both describing words and pictures illustrating snowmen in the style of each artist. The book then has a blank "canvas" at the end of the text that invites children to make their own version of a snowman (with the caveat they photocopy that page before embarking on their artistic journey). The illustrator also provides readers with some tips on ways to experiment in making art and finding your unique style.

The artists featured in this book range from the super well-known, such as Picasso and van Gogh, to lesser-known ones like Sonia Delaunay and Jacob Lawrence. I must confess I wasn't familiar with all the artists, but a helpful "Meet the Artists" endnote provides a paragraph-long biography of each one. The artists cover a wide range of time periods, ethnicities, and races as well as including both female and male artists. I have the tiniest of quibbles that the book depicts only snowmen, but the diversity in the artists used as examples outweighs that for me. Overall, I think this is solid offering to introduce children to some basic art history and think about the world more creatively.… (más)