Dan's Angel: A Detective's Guide to the Language of Paintings [Hardcover]

Alexander Sturgis (Author), Lauren Child (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up

Dan wanted to be a detective, but he wasn't sure just what he was searching for until the day he passed an interesting-looking building - what better place to find mysteries to solve than in an art museum? The clues within some of the greatest paintings of all time are revealed to Dan as he learns the language, symbols and mysteries of art.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 1-4-Dan skateboards to a museum, and goes in to see paintings "-full of strange and beautiful things." While he senses that some had stories to tell, he realizes, "You can't read paintings like you can read books." A voice tells him otherwise: it's Fra Angelico's Angel Gabriel, who flies out of The Annunciation and accompanies the boy through the galleries. From Sandro Botticelli (whose sleeping Mars and watchful Venus show the power of love over war) to Pablo Picasso (whose weeping woman mourns the tragedy of the Spanish Civil War) and beyond, they use their eyes and their common sense to deepen their appreciation of the artwork. A dozen paintings are reproduced (all but two are European), all set against colorful backgrounds and peopled by Child's distinctively wonderful cartoons of children, adults, and a black-and-white cat. The visuals work a bit better than the text, though, since the premise lacks the authentic feel that characterizes the best flights of fancy. By comparison, Jacqueline Weitzman's You Can't Take a Balloon into the Metropolitan Museum (Dial, 1998) seems a delightful bit of froth, but lacks the educational agenda of Dan's Angel. Interest in introducing children to fine art in an accessible manner is high, and this fun book succeeds quite well.
Lauralyn Persson,Wilmette Public Library, IL
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

PreS-Gr. 3. Young Dan is an aspiring detective in search of a mystery--any mystery. It's the clues that he loves, and when he wanders into an art museum, he finds walls filled with mysterious stories to be solved. At first he is frustrated because he can't find clues to help him work out what's happening in each image. Then he gets a little help from an unlikely source: the angel Gabriel in Fra Angelico's The Annunciation, who steps out of the painting and begins to challenge Dan with questions about what's in the pictures. There's not much framework to this lighthearted art fantasy, and Dan is sometimes too precociously observant. But Sturgis, a curator at the National Gallery in London, writes in lively, clear language that will encourage children to find their own stories in the artworks. Child's bright illustrations, which combine her signature zany collages with reproductions of old masters, extend the sense that art is accessible and fun with images of Gabriel, who, despite his wings, prefers to browse the galleries on skateboard. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 38 pages
• Publisher: Kane/Miller Book Pub (August 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1929132476
• ISBN-13: 978-1929132478
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 9.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #741,396 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dan's Angel, September 16, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Dan's Angel: A Detective's Guide to the Language of Paintings (Hardcover)

This is a wonderful introduction to the world of painting for young children. The angel leaps out of The Annunciation painting by Fra Angelico and guides a young detective through a museum. The painting selection is excellent and the discussion between Gabriel - the angel - and Dan - the young detective - is very witty. I would love to find more books like this for my children!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Richie's Picks: DAN'S ANGEL, December 21, 2003

By 

Richie Partington "Richie's Picks" (Sebastopol, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dan's Angel: A Detective's Guide to the Language of Paintings (Hardcover)

In the third through fifth grade school library where I've spent some time volunteering this fall, Joan Steiner's LOOK-ALIKES series and the Jean Marzollo/Walter Wick I SPY series are shelved in the high 700s between Jokes/Riddles and Sports. Owing to the healthy and constant circulation enjoyed by these books, I could easily sleepwalk to that spot on the shelves.

Kids who have spent endless hours poring over LOOK-ALIKES and I SPY books will join with budding artists and art critics in delighting over DAN'S ANGEL, a picture book for older kids which offers a fun first look at symbolism in art. Written by the Exhibition and Program Curator of the National Gallery in London, it is illustrated by Lauren Child who is well known around here after winning the 2003 California Young Reader Medal in the Primary Category for I WILL NEVER EVER EAT A TOMATO.

Dan is a skateboard kid who happens upon an art museum and is checking it out when the unexpected occurs:

"The walls were covered with paintings full of strange and beautiful things. Some seemed to tell stories, but he couldn't work out what the stories were.
" 'You can't read paintings like you can read books,' he sighed.
" 'You can read this one,' a voice said. It seemed to come from a painting of an angel talking to a woman."

That angel speaking to Dan is Gabriel and the painting is Fra Angelico's The Annunciation. Gabriel splits the painting and leads Dan on a tour of some well-known works to explain how artists tell stories using symbolic images. From Belshazzar's Feast and Botticelli's Venus and Mars to Picasso and Pollack, we see examples of artists deliberately utilizing such symbols as colors and animals, bubbles and flowers.

Alas, the tour ends because the museum guard is once again after the oft-missing angel, and Gabe heads back to where he belongs--in the painting. There is a good dose of visual humor--such as Gabriel on Dan's skateboard--and Lauren Child uses her own symbolic images within Dan's story.

This book will also serve as a great stepping stone to later important lessons of symbolism in literature.

Richie Partington
http://richiespicks.com
[e-mail]

4.0 out of 5 stars Dan's Angel book, June 17, 2010

By 

Kristin Nitz "NutBugs" (Calif) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Dan's Angel: A Detective's Guide to the Language of Paintings (Hardcover)

This is a cute book and has become very popular here at home. I was hoping for a little more in depth information on each painting, but the story is cute, the way it flows is great and I think this is a good read aloud and a little bit of learning added to it about the paintings.