From School Library Journal
Grade 2-4-In each of these volumes, the clear, precise text is accompanied by relevant illustrations and portraits. Sufficient factual information is offered so readers meet the artists in their historic and cultural milieu and develop a sense of appreciation for their ideas and masterpieces. The author also relates stories from the subjects' lives that would be especially interesting to youngsters. He writes of Leonardo da Vinci's picture of a dragon "...that was so realistic it scared his father," and of his habit of writing backwards. Of Pieter Bruegel, he notes that the artist was said to enjoy frightening "...people, even his own pupils, with all kinds of spooks and uncanny noises." Artwork includes full-color and black-and-white reproductions and photographs.
Patricia Mahoney Brown, Benjamin Franklin Elementary School, Kenmore, NY
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Patricia Mahoney Brown, Benjamin Franklin Elementary School, Kenmore, NY
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Kirkus Reviews
Cursory coverage of Bruegel's paintings, with reproductions that leave readers squinting at the details. This Tell Me About overview of Bruegel's life and art doesn't dwell on him; too much of his lifeyear of birth, appearance, parentage, his childhoodis unknown. Instead, Malam includes information about Bruegel's travels, his sons, and tidbits about him recorded by his contemporaries. He also turns to the paintings, explaining that they provide a view of 16th-century Holland. There are many small reproductions, and the color is quite good, but the details mentioned in the text are often so tiny that they are hard to find in the paintings. Nils Jockel's Pieter Bruegel's Tower of Babel (1998), though it concentrates on a single painting, is better written, and has larger reproductions. Richard Mhlberger's What Makes a Bruegel a Bruegel? (1993) provides a similar overview for a slightly older audience, which may make it more usable in the long run. (glossary, index) (Picture book/biography. 5-9) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
