Customer Reviews

Seurat and La Grande Jatte: Connecting the Dots

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The author has done a brilliant job crafting a book that appeals to elementary age students. I am an art teacher and used this as my primary resource when introducing Georges Seurat and Pointillism. There is just enough biographical information thrown in to benefit the students, but not so much it bores them. Fantastic examination of the painting and explanation of the process involved in making this piece. Wonderful!

Robert Burleigh's Seurat And La Grande Jatte is a very different kind of children's picture book -- it is an appreciation of a classic painting, "A Sunday on La Grande Jatte - 1884", which was created with the remarkable art style of pointilism (painting with dots) by the talented and dedicated French artist Seurat. Details and reproductions of this remarkable work (as well as other compositions by Seurat), superbly background the scene it portrays and deftly enhances the narrative musings into the life of the hard-working artist which fill the pages of this marvelous children's book which is especially recommended for talented youngsters who themselves have a flair for art.

I love this book, the way the author speaks to the reader in a confident yet casual tone, taking the reader on a pleasurable journey into the world of Seurat's painting, La Grande Jatte. We learn not only about the living conditions of most Parisians at that time, but also about the figures in the painting, what Seurat might have been trying to accomplish, how long it took him to paint his masterpiece, his thoughts on painting, and his style of painting. And although we learn a lot (in a very non-pedantic way), we're left with a sense of mystery and wonder. A superb book!