Monet's Magical Garden... and Then Some

  The Magical Garden of Claude Monet, By Laurence Anholt

While scanning the library shelves for interesting children's books to read, this one really caught my eye. This book is part of a series of books that Laurence Anholt and his wife write and illustrate together. This story is about how a little girl named Julie and her mother take a trip out to Claude Monet's residence to see his paintings, his home, and of course his magical garden where his incredible artwork is created. When they are there, Julie's dog escapes from the group and slides under a hole in the door which leads to Monet's garden. When she follows him back there, Monet shows her his beautiful, delicate pictures of the scenery that he spends so much time around. He shows her one particular painting that he is attempting to be the first artist to complete; a panoramic painting of his entire garden using several different canvases, and putting them all together when he is finished painting. At the end of the story, Julie and her mother leave and Monet gives her a water lillie from his pond. When she accidentally drops it into the current, she is disappointed and sad. But in the middle of the night, she wakes up to find that her lillie has floated back to her. 

This book uses illustrations as beautiful as Monet's to tell a wonderful story, and teach about an important figure in history. The thing that I really liked was how the authors included a brief bit of biographical information on Monet in the back, touching on his life and important things that he did in the art world. It also tells readers that the little girl in the story was linked to Monet in real life. This section is wonderful for extension exercises and lessons to teach children. The book really emphasizes why learning about art and art history is so critical, and should be included in elementary school instruction. Children will be drawn into the book not only for the painted illustrations with vivid colors, but also will be interested in learning more about Monet as an artist and individual in art history.