This is a reissue of a book previously published in 1987. I found it on the shelf in the bookstore, and was enchanted! The pictures are fabulous, the drawings are beautiful, and the story is delightful. Additionally, this combines a story that a child can get involved with and the story of Monet, including a hefty dose of his family history (including his love for his wife Camille and then his ‘friend’s wife’ Alice, whom he could not marry until her husband – Monet’s friend and supporter Ernest who abandoned his wife and children – died.)
The story is of Linnea and Mr. Bloom, who takes her to Paris to walk in the places Monet painted (and memorialized in his paintings) and you smile and feel like you are there a little bit.
Linnea and Mr. Bloom meet the step great grandson of Monet – Jean-Mariel Toulgouat – who is also an artist, but enchants Linnea even further. Linnea’s goal is to walk on the bridge and look onto the pond at the water lilies…and she achieves that goal.
This young girl connects with Monet before, during and after her visit to the places he painted, and her description of seeing the pictures up close and personal (describing the blobs of paint) and then her realization that walking further away from the painting, and how depth and perception begin to play into how she views and connects with the paintings grabs the reader and allows you to feel what she feels and see what she sees.
For a 25 year old book, it was brand new to me, and a joy to read. And it is a wonderful way to introduce children to art and artistry, while allowing the reader to share impressions on an impressionist painter. So connecting the adults and the young children (4-8 years of age and up) can open a new world to the artist in any family! It would be wonderful for the adult to read the story over a period of time and encourage the youngster to draw their own versions of the Monet classics…and then compare the results!
- Goodreads rating – 4.17
- REVIEW – Beth Maline