30th March Vincent van Gogh (1853 - 1890)

While I did include van Gogh in last year's blog entries, I have purchased a new picture book since then that I want to mention. It is called Vincent van Gogh and the Colors of the Wind and it is certainly a good looking book and it is a large portrait-shaped book so easy to share with a group. The story written by Chiara Lossani and illustrated by Octavia Monaco was originally published in Italy.

The story follows van Gogh's life from childhood, through the tumultuous years to his untimely death. It explores his relationship with his younger brother Theo and the letters he wrote to him. It includes reproductions of some of his paintings and integrates them into the illustrations which themselves 'splash' colour in a similar manner to van Gogh.

I read a review and ordered the book from a catalogue sight unseen. The review recommended the book for 4 - 8 year olds, but the text is very long, probably overlong for a picture book, written in stanzas, and is hard to read on the painted backgrounds, so I think that this makes it for older children.

30th March Vincent van Gogh (1853 - 1890)

Vincent van Gogh was only an artist for the last ten years of his life, that is from 27 to 37. In that time he made over 1700 drawings and paintings. That's almost one every two days! And, he only sold one in his lifetime. These facts came from Vincent van Gogh: Sunflowers and Swirly Stars by Joan Holub. This book is set out as if it is an assignment where a child has to write a report about a famous artist. It is easy to read but still full of information and makes connections with the implied author's own life.

Another book about van Gogh that is worth including in any early childhood library is Vincent's Colors. This book from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York uses words and pictures by van Gogh. He wrote a lot of letters, in particular to his brother, Theo and the words are taken from these letters and matched to a painting of his. The paintings have become whole page illustrations so they are large enough to share with a class.

A third book about van Gogh is Laurence Anholt's Camille and the Sunflowers. This is a fiction picture book, but much of it could be true and it focuses on one period in van Gogh's life when he was painting in France. This book also highlights how people can be very cruel to someone who is different from themselves and would therefore make a good 'circle time' book.