Van Gogh (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists) [Paperback]

Mike Venezia (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1989 | Age Level: 6 and up | Grade Level: 1 and up | Series: Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists

Presents a biography of Van Gogh

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 2-4 A bizarre juxtaposition of cartoons and sly jokes with reproductions of the intense chromatic portraits and landscapes of the mentally-tortured painter ends in a tasteless mix. In an attempt to be lighthearted, Venezia seems to be laughing at van Gogh's unhappiness. The famous Bedroom at Arles is presented as "pretty neat" because his friend Gauguin complained that van Gogh was messy. The Self Portrait with Bandaged Ear "looks like he wished he hadn't done it," and, soon after painting a "scary" Wheatfield with Crows, "van Gogh shot himself. He died two days later." The use of cartoon-like "asides" works in Robert Quackenbush's brief biographies for this age group, but it isn't effective in introducing art. Perhaps it is the incongruity of great paintings and slapstick drawings that jars, but more likely it is that Venezia reduces passion to petulance and explains genius as a matter of bright colors and thick paint. The book has some good reproductions which can be used to introduce young children to van Gogh's paintings, but the text is neither fun nor funny. Shirley Wilton, Ocean County College, Toms River, N.J.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Library Binding edition.

Review

"The excellent-quality reproductions do a great deal to enhance and extend the text." --This text refers to the Library Binding edition.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 6 and up
  
• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Children's Press(CT); New edition edition (March 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 051642274X
• ISBN-13: 978-0516422749
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 7.9 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #35,172 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #3 in Books > Arts & Photography > Schools, Periods & Styles > Post-Impressionism
  • #7 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Arts & Photography > Art > Art History > Schools, Periods & Styles
  • #12 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > People & Places > Biographies > Art

More About the Author

Mike Venezia is the author of several nonfiction books for children from the Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists series. Books

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent art appreciation but questionable cartoons, April 26, 2002

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Van Gogh (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists) (Paperback)

Well, we should not have been surprised that Vincent Van Gogh presents a challenge to Mike Venezia, because the tragic life of this particular artist does not especially lend itself to the cartoons that Venezia includes in his Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists series. On the one hand we are talking about one of the most famous artists of all time, whose paintings now sell for millions and millions of dollars. But on the other hand we have a man who suffered severe emotional problems, cut off his ear, and ended up committing suicide. To be fair, Van Gogh was the epitome of the starving artist, and while none of the cartoons in the book goes too far, the one on the back of Venezia's self-portrait with a paper-cut is over the line given that this is a book for children.

The strength of the book is that Venezia does one of his best jobs of explaining the unique style of the artist with his look at Van Gogh. It is ironic that in a book where the subject presents such problems, Venezia provides ten cartoons in the book, which might be the most I have seen in any of his volumes to date (there are 22 paintings and drawings by Van Gogh). Certainly the cartoons do not reflect the tone of the text, which deals with Van Gogh's problems in a straight-forward manner. But given the fate of the artist, it is hard to find them totally appropriate. Again, to be fair, this is Venezia's format and we could not expect him to abandon it and perhaps he was trying to provide a counterbalance to Van Gogh's self-destructive impulses. Certainly parents should check this one out and make a judgment for their own children, and teachers should do the same thing for their students. A good alternative text, although written for a slightly older audience, is "What Makes a Van Gogh a Van Gogh" put out by The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Masterful Presentation of Difficult Material, August 25, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Van Gogh (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists) (Paperback)

This is a truthful and sensitive presentation of information about an artist who suffered from an emotional disorder and often was not a happy person. Mr. Venezia does not gloss over Van Gough's difficulties, but presents them in a way that children can understand within the context of explaining what was importaint to the artist, and how the man's feelings and life experiences affected his paintings. When I read the book, I decided not present it to my daugher as early as the other Venezia artist and composer biographies. I waited until I thought she could clearly separate in her mind what other people do from the things our family does. Each parent will need to decide when their own child is ready for information about a great artist who ulimately commited suicide; it is the old decision between sheltering a child or presenting disturbing information when you are there to talk about it with them. Aside from these considerations, I strongly feel that the book maintains the same high standards found in all of Mr. Venezia's books. Any swerving from the facts to maintain a glossy finish (i.e., the traditional fairy tale happy ending?) would have been disappointing.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Good information, but beware of noose!, April 29, 2006

By 

sarab "SARA" (oc/california) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Van Gogh (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists) (Paperback)

I loved the fact that there is a children's book out there that contained all of my favorite works by Van Gogh, with text to support it, which can be read by my 7 year old. I don't know, perhaps I'm overprotective, but I didn't think one of the cartoons, showing a stick figure of "Mr. Van Gogh" in a NOOSE was appropriate for my son! (The context was that his students drew it....still, inappropriate! If a student would draw that on any chalkboard in any school district, they would probably be expelled!) I am planning on saving this book, for when he is older, and am looking for a replacement van gogh book for now, with only prints of his masterpieces!