Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

My sons (age 4 and 8) and I adore these books - I only wish they made more in the series. The books are simply laid out enough that a young kid could do the book by himself....if he has reading skills. Although I don't recall a beheading mentioned in the other review, smaller kids who can't read would need an adult to help them. In addition to being fun to search through, these books expose kids to a wide range of artistic periods - from both the East and the West. The books are also a good present for a 6th or 7th birthday - who needs another toy clogging up the toy box?

My 5 yr old son picked this book up from the library and we've had to renew it twice because we can't bear to let it go. I love how it makes art fun and interesting, and teaches them how to love it at a young age. I recognized some of the pieces, and I loved the range from whimsical and light hearted to darker and deeper. I have a pretty low tolerance for violence, but I found it provided a good platform for talking to kids about things they'd otherwise be sheltered from.

You could look at each one of the paintings in this book for hours and never get bored. They are way more fascinating and far more beautiful than Where's Waldo, or the I spy books.