Dreaming with Rousseau
(Mini Masters)

K Gr 2There seems to be a disconnect between the format and the content of these small board books. Merberg and Bober have penned loosely plotted rhyming stories that use Rousseau's and Gauguin's paintings to illustrate the action. The first book opens, "After a stroll in the starlit night, /beneath a moon that's pearly white, /a girl falls asleep on a sandy bed, /as magical pictures dance in her head." The remaining images are all supposedly part of the girl's dreams. Similarly, Gauguin's paintings provide a backdrop for a simple rhyming narrative about island life. Neither the art nor the vocabulary ideas seem suited to a board-book audience. Stick with more traditional informational texts about the lives of the artists and their contributions to the art world."Lynne Mattern, Robert Seaman School, Jericho, NY" Copyright 2007 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.