From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 2—Micklethwait continues the series concept of matching simple, familiar statements with examples of ever-changing artistic styles and subject matter. The fine art included here ranges from a 15th-century Nativity scene ("I spy with my little eye a brown cow") to a 21st-century painting by Michael Craig-Martin entitled
Eyetest, featuring brightly hued common objects arranged in a hierarchy of sizes ("I spy with my little eye lots of colors"). As viewers discover a purple square, green elephant, and pink socks, they are building up, in the author's words, "a store of images." The repetition of the refrain and the large font employed for each object, in combination with the visual clues, make this a natural choice for both preschoolers and beginning readers. Adults can easily extend the game with other items on the pages or with pictures in other settings, including galleries. Titles and artists are identified in context; dates and locations are provided as endnotes. In a market flooded with collections of reproductions masquerading as concept books, this one is the real deal.—
Wendy Lukehart, Washington DC Public Library Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
About the Author
Lucy Micklethwait says, "I began to play 'I Spy' with paintings with my own children when they were very young. Over and over again my children pointed out things which I had never noticed before—an apple that had fallen to the floor, a funny-shaped shoe, an expression on a face. Although we were simply 'looking at pictures,' I was well aware that, by making these paintings accessible, I was enabling my children to build up a store of images in their own minds which must inevitably lead to some interest in fine art." Ms. Micklethwait's books for children include I Spy Shapes in Art; I Spy: An Alphabet in Art; I Spy Two Eyes: Numbers in Art.
