Can You Find It, Too?: Search and Discover More Than 150 Details in 20 Works of Art [Hardcover]

Judith Cressy (Author)

Book Description

Grade Level: K and up

Published in association with The Metropolitan Museum of Art, presents a diverse collection of twenty well-known paintings which show how, through the centuries, artists have hidden small details to be discovered by curious eyes.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 2-5–In Cressy's sequel to Can You Find It? (Abrams, 2002), details of paintings from the Metropolitan Museum's collection are present, but the author has branched out here to include artwork from three other American museums as well as works from seven European collections. This expansion enriches and enlivens the book and the enjoyable task of finding details within each piece. Each spread features a three-quarter-page picture and a list of several things to look for. Cressy notes how studying a piece to find people, animals, and objects inevitably allows children to look at art closely and carefully. This exposure to international masterpieces representing different cultures and histories throughout the centuries is bound to make an impression on children. The paintings are stunning, and reproduced with attention to light and shadow; their diversity introduces readers to a wide variety of styles and subjects. Answers to the challenges are provided at the end of the book, along with information on each artist, the work itself, and where it resides. This is art as entertainment with an educational bent as well, but, most of all, it is thoroughly engaging.–Tracy Karbel, Glenside Public Library District, Glendale Heights, IL
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Gr. 2-5. Like its predecessor, Can You Find It? (2003), Cressy's newest book, published in conjunction with the Metropolitan Museum of Art, engages young readers in masterpieces of world painting through art-based "I spy" puzzlers. Its view is richer and deeper than that of its companion book, drawing as it does from 10 other collections besides that of the Metropolitan Museum. But the format is the same: each of the 20 featured paintings, mostly Renaissance European but representing a smattering of other cultures and eras, appears alongside a list of items to be found in the scene. Annotated keys appear at book's end in case young ones get stuck--a likely outcome considering the minutiae involved and the sometimes awkward positioning of important details (as when one of four baby carriages of L. S. Lowry's July, the Seaside disappears into the binding). Nonetheless, it's hard to fault a book that encourages young readers to pore over every square centimeter of such works as Bruegel the Elder's rambunctious Children at Play and to discover for themselves that "the fun is in the looking." Jennifer Mattson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams (November 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810950464
• ISBN-13: 978-0810950467
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 9.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #376,793 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #69 in Books > Children's Books > Arts, Crafts & Music > Art > Painting
  • #99 in Books > Children's Books > Arts, Crafts & Music > Art > History

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 65 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Violent - what were they thinking? Good concept, poor choices., December 29, 2005

By 

Timothy J. Gifford - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Can You Find It, Too?: Search and Discover More Than 150 Details in 20 Works of Art (Hardcover)

I purchased this book to give as a gift to my nephew. When it arrived, I opened the book to the middle and I could not believe what I was looking at. One of the art scenes is of a battle where a man charging on a horse has been decapitated. Blood is spewing from the headless neck, his necklace is falling in one direction, and his separated head (with a horror/surprise look on his face) is falling to the ground behind the horse. This is very gruesome, and there is no way I could give this as a gift a child of any age.

Wondering what could be worse, I turned the page to find another battle scene. One man is being struck to the back of the head with a club/mace and his head is caved by the blow. I am not making this up, the head is split open and details are painted. Many others in this same art work lie dead and dieing with arrows in their heads and torsos.

I look at the next artwork, and a man is pinning another to the ground while he slices his throat with a knife.

Why would someone pick these art works? Why would the editors allow them? I'm still stunned that this would make it print.

84 of 99 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars not pleasant, December 7, 2004

By 

Mary A. Buschka - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Can You Find It, Too?: Search and Discover More Than 150 Details in 20 Works of Art (Hardcover)

Some of the works of art are lovely, but 2 are too violent for a child to study. In one, a man is being beheaded and another shows a nightmarish scene with a man on fire. Is this the best the author could find? Sure to turn some children away from art.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "I Spy" taken to a whole new level, November 22, 2006

By 

Delirium "Star" (St. Louis, MO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Can You Find It, Too?: Search and Discover More Than 150 Details in 20 Works of Art (Hardcover)

The only reason I did not give 5 stars is that I would have loved to see more famous works of art in the book, but I realized that since it comes from "The Metropolitan Museum of Art", they may not have those. It's a great way to remember art pieces. It's a fun way to study them as well. As for violence in some of the paintings, I did not see anything even remotely as gruesome as some images our children are exposed to on the news or even in cartoons nowadays. There is no reason to shut them off exposure to great art pieces because there is a battle scene in one of them.

Thre is an answer key at the end of the book, with items highlighed. I really appreciated that feature, having spent 3 days searching for an item in one of "I Spy" books. Those don't have answer key. In the same answer key, there is a short description of each painting, short background of the artwork. I found it very helpful as well.