Synopses & Reviews
Julie is a happy little girl who lives in Paris, but she wishes she could walk in a country garden. Julie is pleased when her mother decides to take her to visit the most wonderful garden in the world, owned by a great friend of the family. They arrive at their destination, and for this little girl it is like walking in a dreamy world where twisting plants grow as tall as trees. When Julie's dog runs away, she asks the gardener to help find her pet, and soon she and the gardener are friends. But this amiable, bearded old man is a very unusual gardener, for not only does he cultivate his many plants, he also paints beautiful pictures of them. Julie has made a friend of the great impressionist painter, Claude Monet. Based on a true story about the daughter of another fine artist, Berthe Morisot, this charmingly illustrated picture book includes reproductions by author-illustrator Laurance Anholt of a famous waterlilies painting, which Monet completed in his garden at Giverny, a few miles from Paris.
Review
"From the creator of picture books such as
Leonardo and the Flying Boy (2000), this story features Julie and her dog, Louie, who spend an idyllic day with Claude Monet. With Louie providing some comic relief along the way, the artist rows his young friend across the pond, where he picks a water lily for her, then takes her back to his studio, where he shows her a huge, panoramic work in progress: a series of paintings depicting his water garden. In the appended note, Anholt tells readers about Monet's life and explains that the little girl is based on Julie Manet, daughter of artist Berthe Morisot, a friend of Monet. Sunny colors predominate in the illustrations, fluid drawings brightened with colorful washes that incorporate some of Monet's paintings (identified on the copyright page). Folding out horizontally, the center spread features one of Monet's water lily paintings with a smaller, superimposed picture showing Monet, Julie, and Louie in a rowboat. The combination of simple story and enticing art makes for a charming introduction to Monet."
Carolyn Phelan, Booklist, February 2004
"…an appealing introduction to the artist."
The Horn Book, Spring 2004
Review
"From the creator of picture books such as Leonardo and the Flying Boy (2000), this story features Julie and her dog, Louie, who spend an idyllic day with Claude Monet. With Louie providing some comic relief along the way, the artist rows his young friend across the pond, where he picks a water lily for her, then takes her back to his studio, where he shows her a huge, panoramic work in progress: a series of paintings depicting his water garden. In the appended note, Anholt tells readers about Monet's life and explains that the little girl is based on Julie Manet, daughter of artist Berthe Morisot, a friend of Monet. Sunny colors predominate in the illustrations, fluid drawings brightened with colorful washes that incorporate some of Monet's paintings (identified on the copyright page). Folding out horizontally, the center spread features one of Monet's water lily paintings with a smaller, superimposed picture showing Monet, Julie, and Louie in a rowboat. The combination of simple story and enticing art makes for a charming introduction to Monet."
Carolyn Phelan, Booklist, February 2004
"àan appealing introduction to the artist."
The Horn Book, Spring 2004
About the Author
Laurence Anholt is a British writer and illustrator whose books for children include Camille and the Sunflowers, Degas and the Little Dancer, Leonardo and the Flying Boy, and Picasso and the Girl with a Ponytail, all published in North America by Barron's.