The book is beautifully constructed, the reproductions are excellent, and—don't get me wrong—it does have quite a bit to teach about art. I just think we could be spending our time on something better. My boys are insisting that we finish it, though, so I'm going with three stars instead of the two I'd give it without their input.
There are two things wrong with this book. The first I don't exactly blame on the editors, viz., the quality of the art on display. A large part of it is, not to put a fine word on it, crap. Way too much bad contemporary art. This is the sort of book that you'll buy if you want to expose your children to the notion that art can be all kinds of things, even heaps of garbage or candy. If you disagree, you'll have my reaction. On the other hand, it is a slice of our crazy old world, so we read it anyway. It would have been better to see more serious, high-quality art from throughout the ages, and for that, the editors can of course be blamed. Instead children are left with the impression that silly contemporary experimental art is on a par with the old masters. Gag me.
The second thing wrong with the book is the text. Sometimes (not very often, frankly) the text is actually thought-provoking, making some non-obvious and even essential remarks or questions about the art. But all too often it's downright inane or puerile (in a way not explicable by the fact that it's written for children). The discussion, such as it is, of "School of Athens" was very disappointing, asserting the painting shows "some of the greatest thinkers, mathematicians, scientists, geographers, artists, and inventors of all time." Well, in fact, they're mostly ancient Greek philosophers. I came across a number of factual problems that made me wonder if the person who wrote it is even trained in art history. And sometimes it's merely mediocre, the sort of thing that one can easily come up with simply by looking closely at the picture over a period of 10 minutes with a child.
Another, more minor problem is that there's no effort to give dates or historical background or interpretation of the art. The art is not put in chronological order, so that we get absurdities such as a pile of candies acting as a memorial for the death of his gay lover immediately followed by Thomas Gainsborough's "Mr. and Mrs. Andrews." (Followed by the "Ceci n'est pas une pipe" painting followed by "School of Athens.")
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