Customer Reviews

Hugo and Miles In I've Painted Everything

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There are some ideas out there that are tailor made subject matter for kids' books. Penguins. The story of Pale Male. Dust bunnies. There are also ideas out there that SEEM tailor made for kids' books... and aren't. Art, for example. It is monumentally difficult to explain the importance of art or the artistic process without losing kids somewhere along the way. You usually end up with books like Seen Art? that are far more amusing to adult purchasers than to child readers. A good kid's art book simplifies the process in such a way that it remains interesting without ever becoming simplistic. Holbrook: A Lizard's Tale was able to do this, but that was more of a chapter book. So it was that I was delighted to find that "Hugo and Miles in I've Painted Everything!" is just what the doctor ordered tot-wise. Balancing neatly between a fun child-friendly plot and some rather grand but easy to understand ideas, author/illustrator Scott Magoon knows how to make a concept as radical as a myriad of artistic styles fresh and fun.

Hugo is in a rut. In the town of Cornville this resident painter has found that when it comes to ideas he's somehow run completely out. After voicing his concerns to his pal Miles, the two happen upon a plan. Miles needs to travel to Paris to try out his newest invention. What if Hugo were to come along? Not entirely convinced, the young elephant still goes along with the idea and sure as shooting he sees all kinds of new things right off the bat. From museums to parks to cool angles to nighttime views, Hugo suddenly realizes all sorts of new ways to paint. Fired up he returns home and begins to use everything from new perspectives, colors, and tones to variable sizes, techniques, and subjects. With such a variety of ways to create art, you might think that a person would never quit being inspired. Hugo never is.

Magoon's style is a flexible thing. It changes according to his needs. In the case of this particular book, the artist has opted for pencil outlines and digitally colored insides. Coulda fooled me. Looking at it, these colors have a distinctly watercolorish aspect to them. The way they dip lightly outside the lines and shift from one color to another is remarkable. And while I don't think that Magoon wrote this book as an artistic how-to, but there are times when it seems as if he's introducing concepts with easy to understand words. When Hugo speculates about various kinds of painting, Miles replies with some plays on his friend's name. Painting everything in a solid color? "Hue-Go." Painting with light? "Hu-glow." And painting in an impressionistic style? "Van Hugo" (though I would have amended this to "Hu Gogh", given the chance).

I actually do get a fair amount of parents in my library with small children who are about to go to a large city (Paris, Tokyo, London, etc.) and would like a picture book to get their kids involved. Until now I only ever had one title in mind to hand to them (Adele & Simon by Barbara McClintock, of course). Now I'll have something a little more artistic to place in their hands as well. It's a soft and lovely little story and one that I am certain many parents, librarians, and art teachers will find infinitely useful. A title that knows how to pluck the essence from a concept and render it child-friendly and smart. Great stuff.

Scott Magoon's HUGO & MILES IN I'VE PAINTED EVERYTHING! tells of a creative artist elephant who can't find anything further to paint. A whirlwind trip to Paris seems to offer few solutions - until Hugo discovers he has plenty to paint if only he begins to see things in a different light.

This book is a real treat. I wanted to read it as soon as I saw the cover. Hugo is a blue elephant. The cover photo shows Hugo looking crestfallen, in a paint-spattered smock, standing in front of a picture of an ordinary wall outlet. He looks like someone the reader would want to help. And he does need help. You see, Hugo is in "an elephunk". He's an artist, a painter, living in a small town. One day he realizes that he has (gasp!) run out of ideas. He's painted everything.

Fortunately, Hugo's best friend Miles knows just what to do. Miles whisks Hugo off to Paris, where they explore the whole city, visiting the Louvre, the Musée d'Orsay, and the gorgeous parks. At the top of the Eiffel Tower, Hugo has an epiphany, one which gets his creative juices flowing again. He realizes that a change in perspective will keep him from ever running out of ideas again. Words to live by for all of us.

The entire story is filled with humor that, while kid friendly, offers an extra nod to adult readers. For instance, when Hugo considers painting in an impressionist style, Miles says that he'll be "Van Hugo." If he paints a large painting, clearly it will be "Hugo-mongous." And so on.

The pencil illustrations (digitally colored) provide many other jokes for readers. The airline that Miles and Hugo fly to Paris is called "Get There Air", while their return flight is on "Been There Air". They hang out at the "Same Day Cafe". A suspicious raccoon character lurks in one of the Museum scenes, having clearly just stolen a painting. In another scene, we see the raccoon escorted by a police officer, though he's never actually mentioned in the text. In the last scene, we see Hugo balanced on his head, painting upside down.

But the humor is only part of what makes this book so wonderful. The other part is the humanity of Hugo and Miles. Hugo's nervousness when he's on the plane, his dejection when he's out of ideas, his wonder in Paris, and his enthusiasm when ideas visit him again will help kids everywhere to relate to him. Miles' joie de vivre shines through, as does his pride in helping his friend, and his pleasure in his eventual success. This may be a trite thing to say about a picture book, but Hugo and Miles are adorable. I know that I want to spend more time with them, and I hope very much that this is the first of a long series of titles.

This book review was originally published on my blog, Jen Robinson's Book Page, on May 20, 2007.

Love the book, the story and the illustrations! A great read with the little ones, but with some tongue-in-cheek for the adult. Brings famous Paris landmarks down to their level. A must see for the aspiring artist in every child. Teaches them to always keep their eyes and mind wide open!

I bought this book for my kids because I loved the illustrations in the authors previous book, "Ugly Fish". My kids love the story and love picking out all the little details in the drawings. A great introduction to art for the kids and I enjoyed seeing Paris through Hugo and Miles eyes.

Fantastic book! It does a great job helping kids to understand that you can look at other ways to solve problems. My daughter really liked the book and she thought the artwork was funny and creative. As a parent, I would recommend this book to any other parent.

I've now purchased 3 copies of this book. I bought it based on an Amazon recommendation, and have been very happy with it. My 4-yr old boy enjoys the book, but doesn't get all the word play yet. He does like the illustrations, and I like the images of Paris. The illustrations are fun - artistic, but not so abstract that little children have a hard time understanding the images. A nice book which touches on the concepts of friendship, having different perspectives in life, and learning through travel. Would recommend this book to others for sure and will continue to give this as a gift to young children.