If da Vinci Painted a Dinosaur

by Amy Newbold, Greg Newbold (Illustrator)

Overview

A new kid-friendly tour of art history from the Newbolds  

In this sequel to the tour de force children’s art-history picture book If Picasso Painted a Snowman, Amy Newbold conveys nineteen artists’ styles in a few deft words, while Greg Newbold’s chameleon-like artistry shows us Edgar Degas’ dinosaur ballerinas, Cassius Coolidge’s dinosaurs playing Go Fish, Hokusai’s dinosaurs surfing a giant wave, and dinosaurs smelling flowers in Mary Cassatt’s garden; grazing in Grandma Moses’ green valley; peeking around Diego Rivera's orchids in Frida Kahlo’s portrait; tiptoeing through Baishi’s inky bamboo; and cavorting, stampeding, or hiding in canvases by Henri Matisse, Andy Warhol, Frida Kahlo, Franz Marc, Harrison Begay, Alma Thomas, Aaron Douglas, Mark Rothko, Lois Mailou Jones, Marguerite Zorach, and Edvard Munch. And, of course, striking a Mona Lisa pose for Leonardo da Vinci.

As in If Picasso Painted a Snowman, our guide for this tour is an engaging beret-topped hamster who is joined in the final pages by a tiny dino artist. Thumbnail biographies of the artists identify their iconic works, completing this tour of the creative imagination.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780884486688
Publisher:	Tilbury House Publishers
Publication date:	10/13/2020
Series:	The Reimagined Masterpiece Series
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	319,312
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 10.10(h) x 0.20(d)
Age Range:	7 - 10 Years

About the Author

AMY NEWBOLD conceived IF PICASSO PAINTED A SNOWMAN book while visiting the Musée Picasso in Paris. If she were to draw a snowman, she would probably start with three white circles stacked one upon another…or maybe just two. Now she's back with IF DA VINCI PAINTED A DINOSAUR and IF MONET PAINTED A MONSTER.

Award-winning illustrator GREG NEWBOLD grew up drawing superheroes and Dr. Seuss characters on giant rolls of newsprint in his childhood basement. He once copied a Vincent van Gogh painting for his college art history class instead of writing a paper. Greg has created work for clients such as Kleenex, Fedex, Heinz, Smucker’s, and American Express as well as illustrating a dozen books for children, including  If Da Vinci Painted a Dinosaur, If Picasso Painted a Snowman, The Barnyard Night Before Christmas, The Touch of the Master’s Hand, Winter Lullaby, and Spring Song. Greg lives in Salt Lake City with his wife, Amy.

Editorial Reviews

"In the second of a playful, conceptual series (following If Picasso Painted a Snowman), the Newbolds, a married team, reimagine classic works of art with a prehistoric twist. A friendly hamster draws with a purple crayon: “If Leonardo Da Vinci drew a dinosaur, it might look like...” The result is a mash-up of da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man and a pterodactyl. Plesiosaurs surf Katsushika Hokusai’s wave, and in Edvard Munch’s iconic painting, the figure on the bridge has a real reason to scream. The image replications capture each artist’s styles and the works’ recognizable features. While the hamster, who offers casual commentary on the art, may distract with its incongruous art style, the creators deliver a memorable introduction to famed works of art. Ages 6–10. (Oct. 2018)"

PW

"Nineteen reimagined images present slightly altered versions of iconic paintings by famous artists, substituting dinosaurs as subjects. Readers are treated to a microraptor standing in for the Mona Lisa, avelociraptor as Frida Kahlo, and a looming giganotosaurus prompting Edvard Munch's The Scream. The illustrations don't just merely replace original elements, such as offering gamboling triceratops and stegosauruses as paper cutouts by Henri Matisse. They also strive to capture the overall emotion of each original...this picture book will encourage creativity, prompt giggling,and hopefully spark gleeful recognition."

Booklist - Kathleen McBroom

10/15/2018
In the second of a playful, conceptual series (following If Picasso Painted a Snowman), the Newbolds, a married team, reimagine classic works of art with a prehistoric twist. A friendly hamster draws with a purple crayon: “If Leonardo Da Vinci drew a dinosaur, it might look like...” The result is a mash-up of da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man and a pterodactyl. Plesiosaurs surf Katsushika Hokusai’s wave, and in Edvard Munch’s iconic painting, the figure on the bridge has a real reason to scream. The image replications capture each artist’s styles and the works’ recognizable features. While the hamster, who offers casual commentary on the art, may distract with its incongruous art style, the creators deliver a memorable introduction to famed works of art. Ages 6–10. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

"I adore this beautiful book that takes us through a tour of snowman art — more specifically, how 17 famous artists would paint a snowman — from Lichtenstein to Monet to van Gogh. All the snowman are painted in a different style and set in different settings. Use this book to inspire your own snowman painting AND become more familiar with these famous artists’ styles."

Imagination Soup

11/01/2018

PreS-Gr 3—What would it be like for dinosaurs to show up in some of the world's most famous works of art? Readers will love naming their favorite dinosaurs and artists in this brightly illustrated, captivating follow-up to If Picasso Painted a Snowman by the same author/illustrator team. A stegosaurus and a triceratops munch on grass in Grandma Moses's garden, a pack of plesiosauri surf on Katsushika Hokusai's iconic wave, and bright dinosaur shapes are scattered among Henri Matisse's iconic colorful paper cutouts. The final masterpiece is the Dino Lisa: a maiasaura disguised as Leonardo da Vinci's most recognizable work. At the end of the story, readers are asked how they would draw a dinosaur, and are given a canvas to create their own work of art. Not only are the illustrations whimsical and attention-grabbing for younger readers, an array of artistic styles and media are represented, featuring artists from many different historical periods and cultures. Dinosaur types are not named in words until the end of the book, sparking a dialogue between children and adults about which dinosaurs they see. A list of artists and their short biographies are included in the back of the book, as well as some advice for readers who hope to be artists when they grow up. VERDICT An obvious choice for young art enthusiasts, dinosaur lovers, and aspiring artists.—Natalie Romano, Denver Public Library

School Library Journal

2018-08-27

Following up If Picasso Painted a Snowman (2017), introductions to 19 more painters and their best-known styles.

In line with the previous gallery, the Newbolds dispatch a shiny-eyed hamster docent to squire young viewers past a set of full-page or larger scenes that imitate famous, or at least representative, paintings—with prehistoric elements, mostly dinosaurs, in each. The virtual museum tour begins with a Vitruvian Microraptor à la Leonardo and ends with a finely rendered Dino Lisa (a gowned maiasaura, according to the key at the end, but looking more than a little like Jar Jar Binks). In between he dishes up Dégas-style ballet dancers, plesiosaurs surfing a version of Hokusai's Great Wave off Kanagawa, a can of Andy Warhol's Dino Noodle Soup, Mark Rothko color fields declared to represent layers of prehistoric rocks, and more. Other artists include Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, Qi Baishi, Loïs Mailou Jones, Harrison Begay, and Marguerite Zorach. The accompanying captions incline toward wordplay: "Cassius Coolidge crates a Cretaceous card game"; "BOOM! CRASH! CRUNK! Here comes a dinosaur by Edvard Munch!" Like the art, some dinos are actual ones, others fanciful. Leonardo is an outlier in this 18th- to 20th-century company (Begay alone lived into the 21st), but the lineup is at least as varied in school or style as the previous one and more diverse of sex, race, and national background than both its predecessor and many others of its ilk. Would-be Leonardos will find both an invitingly blank page to fill at the end and elementary prompts from the versatile illustrator.

Art history with a little smile. (thumbnail biographies) (Informational picture book. 5-9)

Kirkus Reviews