Mousterpiece: A Mouse-Sized Guide to Modern Art - Hardcover

Zalben, Jane Breskin

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1596435496 ISBN 13: 9781596435490

Publisher: Roaring Brook Press, 2012

Synopsis

Circles and squares! Squiggles and wiggles and stripes! When Jansen the mouse discovers the art of such greats as Picasso, Matisse, and Warhol, the bright, bold colors and shapes capture her imagination and spark her creativity. Join Jansen on a colorful tour of contemporary art in this new work from an acclaimed author and illustrator.

Mousterpiece is a Kirkus Reviews Best Children's Book of 2012

About this title

From the Author

I fell in love with art as soon as I could hold a crayon in my hand. By five years old, my mother took me on weekends from Queens to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan, where I had painting lessons. In the afternoon, we would have lunch at the cafeteria - dill pickles and an iced cruller! On special occasions, we would eat upstairs around a low pool, built like a Roman bath, surrounded by classical sculpture and massive columns, which was evocative for a young child and has appeared in many of my novels. I would throw a penny in the water and make a wish. In the afternoon, we would tour the American Wing with rooms of old furniture, the kind my main character lives in, and then make our way in time through the galleries to modern art - just like Janson, my little mouse! It was obviously a seminal time in beginning development. Years followed with a 6th-grade scholarship to Pratt on weekends, The Art Students League at 11, ultimately The High School of Music & Art, and then Queens College where I was an art major focusing on huge modern paintings, etchings and typography. (I studied with Herb Aach, a color field painter and paint chemist, Bob Birmelin, an etcher, Richard Serra, sculptor, and Marvin Bileck who had won a Caldecott Honor - all influences on a young college fine arts major. Studied at Pratt Graphics Center after college.) I used the name "Janson" because the History of Art by H.W. Janson was 'the Bible' of all university art students in asking the universal questions: "What is art? Why is this art?" And then finding your own voice and doing your passion. This is the book. Janson's journey. And of course, mine.

About the Author

Jane Breskin Zalben has created more than fifty books for children - both picture books and young adult novels, and her art has been shown at galleries and museums across the country. When she isn't painting, she loves to cook and garden, (she has done two cookbooks!) write articles, and travel the world speaking about creating children's books. Ms. Zalben, who has two grown sons, lives on Long Island with her husband Steven.

About this edition

• Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1596435496
• ISBN 13: 9781596435490
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 40
• Illustrator: Zalben Jane Breskin