"A thought-provoking exploration of the creative process....Funny, clever, full of revelations to those who look carefully—this title represents picture-book making at its best."—School Library Journal, starred review

"Children will giggle and marvel....Triple Caldecott winner Wiesner delivers a wildly trippy, funny and original interpretation of the artistic process."—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"This small-scale and surprisingly comedic story takes place against a placid backdrop of pale desert colors, which recedes to keep the focus squarely on the dynamic between the two lizards and the wide range of emotions that Wiesner masterfully evokes."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Sophisticated and playful, this beautiful mind-stretcher invites viewers to think about art's fundamentals: line, color, shape, and imaginative freedom."—Booklist, starred review

"[A] visual meditation on the effects of illustrative style. . . . Detailed with Wiesner's signature craft and wit."—The Horn Book

"Longtime children's book legend David Wiesner takes exciting risks with his newest book about two art-making critters."—The Huffington Post

--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

*Starred Review* Wiesner, the recipient of three Caldecott Medals and two Caldecott Honors, offers another fantastical winner that plays with the boundaries of traditional storytelling. In an empty desert, Art, a horned lizard, paints a straightforward portrait. In dashes Max, a smaller, exuberant lizard, who wants to paint, too. “Don’t be ridiculous,” scoffs Art, who begrudgingly relents: “Just don’t get in the way.” Intimidated by his blank canvas, Max asks Art for subject ideas. “You could paint me,” says Art, a suggestion that Max interprets literally as he covers his pompous companion with color. Here, Wiesner’s art hits its full surreal stride. In a furious explosion, Art sends the bright pigment flying. What’s left of his body is a less solid form, still stained with color, which Max removes with a rinse of water, reducing Art to an outline that unravels with Max’s touch. With a tentative “Here goes,” Max reconfigures the tangled heap back into his friend, finally spraying him with color in a pointillist style that inspires both reptilian artists to paint in wild, new ways. Kids may have questions about both the story’s old-fashioned gadgets (a Victrola and a canister vacuum) and the dreamlike action, but they’ll easily connect with the remarkably expressive lizards and with Max’s elemental triumph over a bossy authority figure. Sophisticated and playful, this beautiful mind-stretcher invites viewers to think about art’s fundamentals: line, color, shape, and imaginative freedom. Grades K-3. --Gillian Engberg --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

K-Gr 4–Underlying this tale of a feisty friendship between two lizards is a thought-provoking exploration of the creative process. Readers first encounter Arthur rendering a formal portrait of a stately reptile, one of several reacting to the unfolding drama in the desert. Frenetic Max dashes into the scene; he also wants to paint, but lacks ideas. Self-assured Art suggests, "Well…you could paint me." Max's literal response yields a more colorful Art, but the master's outrage causes his acrylic armor to shatter. His texture falls in fragments, leaving an undercoating of dusty pastels vulnerable to passing breezes. Each of Max's attempts to solve Art's problems leads to unexpected outcomes, until his mentor is reduced to an inked outline, one that ultimately unravels. Wiesner deftly uses panels and full spreads to take Max from his "aha" moment through the humorous and uncertain moments of reconstructing Art. Differentiated fonts clarify who's speaking the snippets of dialogue. Wielding a vacuum cleaner that soaks up the ruined scales, Max sprays a colorful stream, à la Jackson Pollock, that lands, surprisingly, in a Pointillist manner on the amazed lizard. The conclusion reveals that his fresh look inspires the senior artist with new vision, too. Funny, clever, full of revelations to those who look carefully–this title represents picture-book making at its best. Wiesner's inventive story will generate conversations about media, style, and, of course, "What Is Art?" It will resonate with children who live in a world in which actions are deemed mistakes or marvels, depending on who's judging.Wendy Lukehart, Washington DC Public Library
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