Roy's House

by Susan Rubin, Roy Lichtenstein (Artist)

Overview

Welcome to Roy's house! Come on in and take a look around. There is a big sofa with room for lots of friends, three red fish swimming in a bowl, a yellow chair for reading, and, of course, Roy's studio, filled with paintbrushes. Susan Goldman Rubin pairs her simple narrative style with the energetic works of Roy Lichtenstein to create an early concept book that is also a fun and accessible introduction to one of the twentieth century's most iconic artists.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781452111858
Publisher:	Chronicle Books
Publication date:	06/07/2016
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	9.30(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	AD420L (what's this?)
Age Range:	3 - 5 Years

About the Author

Susan Goldman Rubin has written many award-winning books about artists for both toddlers and middle grade readers, including Andy Warhol's Colors and Everybody Paints!: The Lives and Art of the Wyeth Family. She lives in Malibu, California.

Editorial Reviews

04/04/2016
Roy Lichtenstein’s dramatic blowups of comic book fragments served as ironic commentary on high art, but Rubin (Stand There! She Shouted: The Invincible Photographer Julia Margaret Cameron) interprets them as a child would, seeing a painting of a rotary phone as an invitation: “In Roy’s house, a telephone rings. Company is coming!” A contemporary sectional in a painted living room is “a great big couch. There is room for many friends.” The journey through the midcentury modern house continues to his studio: “Roy paints pictures here!” Rubin imagines readers participating in Lichtenstein’s work: “We can paint pictures too. Swoosh a stroke of yellow, drip, dripping on the floor.” The book’s most arresting image is one of two photos that accompany the author’s note. It shows Lichtenstein in jeans and a sweater vest at work on one of his huge canvases—a collision between the three-dimensional realness of the man versus the flattened cartoon art he’s painting. While the text doesn’t say much about why the artist painted the way he did, Rubin’s study provides a joyously uninhibited chance to inhabit Lichtensteinian space. Ages 3–5. (June)

Publishers Weekly

"A joyously uninhibited chance to inhabit Lichtensteinian space."-Publishers Weekly

"A joyously uninhibited chance to inhabit Lichtensteinian space."-Publishers Weekly

"Readers will feel welcome in Roy's house."-Kirkus Reviews

"Readers will feel welcome in Roy's house."-Kirkus Reviews

"An accessible, engaging approach to the pop artist's paintings for a younger crowd."-Booklist

"An accessible, engaging approach to the pop artist's paintings for a younger crowd."-Booklist

From the Publisher

08/01/2016
K-Gr 4—Pop artist Lichtenstein is best known for his larger-than-life paintings composed of dots and featuring black outlines, primary colors, and comic book themes, but it's a photo of the sculpture House 1, created to his specifications, that opens this volume. Readers are invited to "come on in!" and take a tour of the abode, his living room, with a "great big couch," a bedroom with "yellow pillows and lamps," and a counter where they can sit and "have a tasty snack…maybe a hot dog in a bun." Each highlighted room, nook, appliance, or food item is an image from a Lichtenstein oil, drawing, or screenprint. The text, which reflects the hyperbolic tone (and font) of many early comic books (and his paintings), serves to highlight the art in the book; thus the image of a ringing phone ("R-R-R-R-Ring!") stands opposite the words "In Roy's House, A Telephone Rings. COMPANY IS COMING!" An endnote and information on the images included fill in a few details. Steer older students to Rubin's WHAM!: The Life and Art of Roy Lichtenstein for material on the artist's life, influences, and processes. VERDICT While those looking for a story may be disappointed, this entry will provide children with a gallery's worth of images by one of the 20th century's most celebrated artists.—Daryl Grabarek, School Library Journal

School Library Journal

2016-03-30
The pop-art movement of the 20th century is revived in this modern compilation of works by Lichtenstein, who died in 1997.Author Rubin has cleverly chosen works from three decades and put them together into a house-themed picture book for children, based around Lichtenstein's "House 1," a brightly painted aluminum full-size facade with playfully skewed perspective. Lichtenstein's iconic cartoon-style illustrations of the rooms in the house (yellow is a favorite color) are interspersed with humorous details, such as three red fish in a bowl, a humungous hot dog, a slice of cherry pie, and objects from Roy's studio. Speech bubbles and onomatopoeic words—"R-R-R-R-RING!" goes the telephone; there's a "knock knock" at the door—will amuse young readers, and the cheery pop images with heavy, black outlines will have instant appeal for a range of readers. Even though there are no people in the book (aside from a disembodied white hand wielding a sponge), the tone is fun and friendly, and readers will feel welcome in Roy's house. An author's note gives a brief biography of the artist, and details of each featured painting are included in the backmatter.Today's kids will not be particularly shocked by the iconoclastic aspects of pop art, as was Lichtenstein's contemporary audience, but his artwork has an enduring appeal. (Picture book. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews