Monet (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists) - Softcover

Mike Venezia is the author of several nonfiction books for children.

Grade 2-4-- One of the more successful books in this series. Venezia offers fine reproductions of full-color paintings judiciously arranged. They not only capture attention with splendid water scenes and a few portraits, but also demonstrate the developing techniques of impressionism and show examples of the haystacks and water lilies that occupied Monet's last years. Venezia still seeks a youthful idiom, using the word "fun" to explain why artists paint and, again, describing the "fun" of painting outdoors. Half a dozen cartoons with slapstick humor are interjected in the book in an effort to show readers that art can be "fun" for them too. However, such lighthearted hooks are more subdued than in earlier books and, in Monet , might be dispensed with altogether, for the paintings are grand, and Venezia has developed a sure feeling for pace and tone in moving from picture to picture to carry out his intent of explaining who Monet was, how he lived, and why it is that he is, indeed, one of the world's greatest artists. Christine Bjork's Linnea in Monet's Garden (Farrar, 1987) is still beyond compare as an introduction to Monet's mature work, but Venezia's book is directed to a slightly younger child, who may then appreciate Bjork's description of Giverny even more. --Shirley Wilton, Ocean County College, Toms River, NJ
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.