This playful picture book pays tribute to the joyous effect art can have on the viewer.
The endpapers give a hint of the fine art to follow. Eggplant-colored watercolors suggest works by Van Gogh, da Vinci and Picasso, among others. Then, emulating the style that he established with The Dot, Peter H. Reynolds strips away all but the girl and the art that inspires her. "When I see a work of art, something happens in my heart," begins the text, in rhyming couplets, by debut author Susan Verde. He puts the girl in a spin when faced with Van Gogh's Starry Night ("Now I'm all twirly-whirly, twinkly, sparkly, super swirly"). Rodin's sculpture "The Thinker" causes the heroine to ape his pose ("Hmmm... I think I'll analyze the whos and whats and wheres and whys"). Author and artist vary the moods for humorous effect, too. The heroine skips past a trio of floral landscapes--"Fragrant, soft, and so delightful"--and winds up in front of Munch's "The Scream"--"Suddenly, it's all so frightful!"
The climax occurs in front of a giant empty canvas that dwarfs the girl: "Is this a joke? I shut my eyes, and something happens, to my surprise." She sees elements from some of the previous paintings, then realizes she can fill her own canvas. It's the best kind of inspiration, a call to creative action. The only thing missing is a key to the artwork the heroine has witnessed, to allow children to explore more from the artists previewed here. --Jennifer M. Brown, children's editor, Shelf Awareness