Touch the Art: Brush Mona Lisa's Hair - Hardcover

Appel, Julie; Guglielmo, Amy

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1402735669 ISBN 13: 9781402735660

Publisher: Sterling, 2006

Synopsis

The mysterious Mona Lisa could use a little grooming so go ahead and brush her long black hair! Continue with the Old Masters by touching the large, lacy collar of Frans Hals’ The Laughing Cavalier, petting the horse’s tail in Velazquez’s Prince Baltasar Carlos on Horseback, and arranging the snappy elastic hair in Boticcelli’s The Birth of Venus. Other paintings come from Vermeer, de la Tour, Raphael, and Van Eyck.

About this title

From School Library Journal:

PreSchool-K—These board books, illustrated with some of the most famous Western masterpieces, encourage children to "touch the art." Each volume draws on a particular period, with Mona Lisa's Hair featuring the work of the Renaissance and Van Gogh's Bed the Impressionists. For each reproduction, a tactile element has been superimposed; for example, an earring on Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring and a piece of tulle on one of Degas' ballerinas. In some cases the feature is small and somewhat hard to find (the fuzz on the peaches in a Cézanne still life, the eyeglasses on the man in Grant Wood's American Gothic), despite the relatively large size of the books. Each selection is identified and accompanied by a brief text. The text of Mona Lisa's Hair is mostly interrogative and less engaging than the other books. It asks, "Do you have a mustache too?" Will children find this silly or condescending? Matisse's Fish opts for a more successful format, with the repetitive refrain of "What a busy day!" Van Gogh's Bed features a lively rhyming scheme, while that in Warhol's Top is more forced (delicious/nutritious/lettuce/messes). The final pages of the books include a date, location, and a description, along with biographical information on the artist for each "artifact." While the idea of introducing children to art at an early age is a noble one, pairing the touch-and-feel format to fine paintings doesn't quite work.—Robin L. Gibson, Granville Parent Cooperative Preschool, OH
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About this edition

• Publisher: Sterling
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 1402735669
• ISBN 13: 9781402735660
• Binding: Board book
• Number of pages: 20