Isabella: Artist Extraordinaire

by Jennifer Fosberry, Mike Litwin (Illustrator)

Overview

The plucky, purple-haired Isabella, star of the New York Times bestselling picture book series, is back and her imagination is turning her life into a wondrous work of art!

In how many colors can a little girl dream?

When Isabella has a day off from school, her parents suggest going somewhere special. Isabella knows that home is special, but she humors them anyway and begins to imagine places they could go, turning to some of history's most famous artists for inspiration. Perhaps they could go to The Boating Party, see Dancers In Blue, or admire The Starry Night.

But can Isabella paint pictures inspiring enough to show her parents that home is actually the most wondrous place of all?

Isabella: Artist Extraordinaire is the perfect gift if you're searching for artist books for children, kid artists books, or famous artist books for kids. Surprise your child with a new beloved book for birthdays, holidays, graduations, and more!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781492672647
Publisher:	Sourcebooks
Publication date:	05/07/2019
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	8.60(w) x 11.10(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	480L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Jennifer Fosberry is a science geek turned children's book writer. After running away to Costa Rica for a few years, she returned to the San Francisco Bay area with her husband and three children to read, write, and try to get out of doing housework. Visit jfosberry.com.

Mike Litwin is an award-winning illustrator who combines oil glazing, color pencil, collage, and other mixed media to create scenes that serve the imagination and education of children. Visit him at mikelitwin.com.

Editorial Reviews

"Likely to spur creativity among budding artists. " — Booklist

From the Publisher

Winter 2018

PreS-K—Masterpieces of Western art are introduced to young children via the adventures of Isabella, a young girl who likes nothing better than to paint and draw in the comfort of her own home. Her mother and father attempt to engage her in a variety of activities, from horseback riding to ballet, and each suggestion conjures up a vision inspired by the work of a famous artist. Readers see echoes of Jacques-Louis David's Napoleon Crossing the Alps, Mary Cassatt's The Boating Party, and Edward Hopper's Nighthawks paintings, with Isabella and her family engaged in each scene, such as eating ice cream at the counter of a nighttime café similar to the one in the Hopper painting. Different fonts are used for key words to help readers make text-to-image connections. Back material includes reproductions of the original artworks: 10 paintings by American and European masters and one sculpture. The illustrations are bright and engaging, with styles changing on each spread to evoke art styles from pointillism to expressionism. Small children will enjoy spotting the mouse on each page and many children will remember the spunky purple-haired Isabella from her previous adventures. Most children will not understand the connections between the famous artwork and the illustrations without guidance. VERDICT This is a good choice for libraries interested in expanding art themes for preschool and kindergarten age children.—Suzanne LaPierre, Fairfax County Public Library, VA

School Library Journal

2018-12-16

A child can't decide how to spend her day but takes inspiration from her love of art.

Isabella is content to spend her day off from school at home with her stuffed toy mouse, but her parents try to find alternate activities. Their discussion about possible places to visit and things to do is embedded with fine-art references that are also depicted and referenced in the illustrations. When Isabella's mother asks, "[H]ow about the park?" Isabella responds, "Let me THINK about it," and digital art depicts her as a statue in a pose similar to Rodin's The Thinker that's being carved by her now-anthropomorphized, sentient toy. Subsequent spreads reveal 10 other references to fine art, all but one of which are by white men. Mary Cassatt's The Boating Party is the exception, in a spread depicting Isabella and her parents in a rowboat as she says, "A BOAT PARTY would be fun….But it's awfully chilly today." The exclusivity is enough to make readers "SCREAM" like Munch's subject in another painting referenced in the book. At the end, Isabella invites her parents to see a museum of her own making, and they admire pictures on her bedroom wall inspired by the referenced art pieces, which are then identified in backmatter.

Extraordinarily exclusive. (Picture book. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews