Customer Reviews

Claude Monet: Sunshine and Waterlilies (GB) (Smart About Art)

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"Claude Monet: Sunshine and Waterlilies" was a terrific book for my 7-year-old daughter. Since it is "written" from the perspective of a fifth grade student doing a report on the famous artist, the language was clear, concise, and interesting to a child my daughter's age. I learned from it, too! My daughter couldn't wait to break out her paints and try her hand at an "impressionist" painting of her own! For anyone who wants their child to learn about art, this book --and the whole series of "Smart About Art" books--is a great place to start. Your child--and you, too!--will definately enjoy this book.

This is one in a series of books about artists for young children about the lives and paintings of these famous oldsters. Written as a report by a fictitious student gives a different aspect and will appeal to school children perhaps; and yet, it contains a biography of Claude Monet (the good and the bad) which appeals to adults, but especially his marvelous paintings are worth the money.

He was very handsome when he went to Paris at the age of 18, but the other painters kidded him with the nickname "Dandy" because he wore ruffled cuffs even though he was just the son of a poor grocer. As a young child in the early school years, he would draw stetches of his teachers and sell them to his classmates. The sketch he drew when he was sixteen looks like something you might see in 'The New Yorker' and is now a part of the expressionist grouping at the Art Institute of Chicago. Some years ago, my son Geoff took me there but that part was closed off for renovation. I told him it didn't matter as there was so much else to look at; as it turns out, the expressionalists are my favorites. Oh well, it was grand just being there.

'The Poppy Field' is one of his most famous, but the people in Knoxville would much prefer 'Water Lilies' because of the purple. By his 83rd birthday, he had finished twenty-two giant paintings of waterlilies. He had his own water gardens as an older man with a bridge (a photo of him standing by with his long white beard); there in his garden at Giverny the flowers were so colorful and plentiful, it could be Longwood Gardens in New Jersey. He and Renoir painted the same scene of a group of party-goers along a frog pond and the canoes pulled up for their use. Renoir's is a close-up though he has one of his trees with long hanging branches, while Monet's is more exact and clear.

He was happily married twice but the deaths took their toll; Camille had been his model for ten years before their marriage and he painted many strange pictures after her death with her face in them. When Alice died, he was so distraught he was unable to paint for some years as his eyesight diminished. In 1923, he endured eye operations and had special glasses to use for resuming his career.

Steven ends his report with "On December 5, 1926, he died (shortly after his 87th birthday). He had been happy, sad, poor and rich. In his life, Monet painted more than 2,000 paintings, which now sell for millions of dollars. They are worth it."

Some of the phrasing is for kids to understand, but the book is so full of information not included in adult biographies it is well worth the time and money to purchase this little treasure.

I am using this book and others in the Smart About Art series to introduce a small group of Native American children to the world of art. These books are great: meets many age levels' needs; excellent selection of works; text that appeals to children. And the adults are enjoying them also!

Written as a school-type report, this book does a great job of showing (side-by-side) how Monet portrayed scenes that other painters also tackled. This happens with Renoir (La Grenouillere). There are other side-by-side spreads showing how lighting changes a scene and showing a photograph next to a Monet painting. Very effective. Perfect for primary grades.

Some vocabulary: dandy, salon, rejected, Impressionism, polluted, appalled, obsession.

Intend to use this book as part of a teacher's lesson plan. Will be very helpful.