If... (Getty Trust Publications : J. Paul Getty Museum) - Hardcover

Perry, Sarah

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0892363215 ISBN 13: 9780892363216

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1995

Synopsis

In her first book, artist Sarah Perry has created twenty magical watercolors that are an open invitation to the imaginations of children. Beautifully produced in full color, these fantastic images conjure up a world of limitless possibilities where anything can happen: leaves turn into green fish...cats fly about on wings...and butterflies become a little girl's coat of many colors. Children of all ages will enjoy this book, the Getty Museum's first co-publication with the Children's Library Press of Venice, California.

About this title

About the Author

Sarah Perry is an artist living in Los Angeles.

Reviews

In her first book for children, Perry, an artist, suggests a series of impossible propositions, then makes each come true in striking if sometimes disturbing paintings. Her text sets up one scenario after another ("If frogs ate rainbows"; "If dogs were mountains") and ends with the suggestion "If this is the end.../ Then dream up some more!" Many concepts are funny ("If zebras had stars and stripes"); many are both intriguing and comic. "If ugly were beautiful," for example, is paired with a painting of a warthog?with warts, bristles, wrinkles and all?wearing a glittering diamond tiara fit for a beauty queen. Other visions are more surrealistic: "If mice were hair" captions a picture of a child's head aswarm with lanky, squirming mice. Elsewhere, a girl in green sunglasses parts her lips to reveal a row of realistically drawn toes; a blue toddler marches off with a green elephant, holding its tail?which closely resembles the child's own. While the artwork is arresting, the premise would be better served with a more supple, varied text and a stronger ending. Ages 3-up.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Ages 6^-10. Imagination is the name of the game, and Perry plays it with distinction. Each left-hand page carries a short phrase beginning with the word If and trailing off in a series of dots, phrases ranging from the strange ("If toes were teeth . . ." ) to the bizarre ("If caterpillars were toothpaste . . ." ) to the striking ("If lightning made rhinos . . ." ) to the enigmatic ("If music could be held . . ." ). The words are mere jumping-off places for Perry's visual flights of fancy. On each right-hand page is an eye-catching, mind-bending illustration of the phrase. The artwork, evidently done in pastels, features rich colors, subtle shading, and enough realism in the technique to make the entertaining and implausible pictures believable. Since the book is made to be shared ("Look at this one!" ), teachers may want to show it to the whole class at once, then pass out the art supplies so that children can play the game, too. Carolyn Phelan

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0892363215
• ISBN 13: 9780892363216
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 44