Unlikely Pairs: Fun with Famous Works of Art (Bob Raczka's Art Adventures) - Hardcover

Raczka, Robert

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0761329366 ISBN 13: 9780761329367

Publisher: Millbrook Press ™, 2005

Synopsis

Museums have very logical ways of displaying works of art. Usually they group works by artist, by movement, or by time period, so that impressionist works or classical works can be viewed together. And many museums are devoted to displaying only a certain type of art. In Unlikely Pairs, Bob Raczka offers us an exhibit like no others, organized solely for fun. The painting of a seventeenth-century Dutch artist sits next to that of a twentieth-century American. Classical sculpture is paired with modern painting. The result is a rollicking romp through a most unusual exhibit. The reader is challenged to figure out the relationship between the various unlikely pairs and in so doing will look very carefully and perhaps even learn something new about different artists and styles along they way.

About this title

About the Author

Bob Raczka and his wife Amy are the co-creators of three masterpieces: Robert, Carl and Emma. They live in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, with their dog Rufus, who is also a piece of work. As a boy, Bob loved to draw―especially dinosaurs, cars, and airplanes. He also enjoyed making paper airplanes and model rockets. He's a lifelong Cubs fan. Thanks to good grades (and some help from his high school art teachers) he went to college at the University of Illinois, where he majored in art. On a whim, Bob took an advertising copywriting class and loved it. When he graduated, he became an advertising writer. But when his first child, Robert, was born, he rediscovered children's books and thought, "I want to do this." So Bob began sending out manuscripts and collecting rejection letters. Five years later, he sold his first manuscript, a book about art called No One Saw. Little did he know, it would become the first book in his ongoing series, Bob Raczka's Art Adventures.

Reviews

Grade 4 Up–Raczka deserves an A+ for cleverness. He begins by explaining his premise: one work of art can take on new meaning when combined with another. Then, without further commentary, he couples famous pieces in a way that suggests a new, humorous scene. Rodin's The Thinker is juxtaposed with Klee's modernistic painting of a chessboard so that the statue looks as if it is contemplating the next move. Simιon-Chardin's picture of a boy blowing soap bubbles seems to be creating Kandinsky's Several Circles. Each selection takes up a page and is reproduced in crisp color. The book ends with a catalog that includes thumbnail illustrations and short paragraphs that go beyond artist and date to reveal interesting details about the works. More subtle than Jon Scieszka's Seen Art? (Viking 2005), this book is an amusing way to introduce children to famous works of art.–Donna Cardon, Provo City Library, UT
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Edition details

• Publisher: Millbrook Press ™
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0761329366
• ISBN 13: 9780761329367
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 32