Dreaming with Rousseau

by Julie Merberg, Suzanne Bober

Introducing an addition to the acclaimed Mini Masters series. This engaging board book features beautiful works of art paired with playful, rhyming text. In Dreaming with Rousseau , the artist's vibrant paintings invite readers on a journey to dreamlike jungles packed with playful monkeys, a racing tiger, and other surprises. This unique book will enchant toddlerswith Rousseau's dramatic works.

Genres: Art, Picture Books, Childrens

22 pages, Board Book

First published August 23, 2007

Reviews

[Andrea Scarlet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lovely stuff, but I wasn’t *captivated*.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice bedtime stories but the paintings were too small

[Jaclyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one book in a series that introduces children to the great art masters. It shows a few pieces (around 10) from the artist and pairs it with rhyming phrases. These books were fun to read and, obviously, great to look at. They come in board book form and are on the smaller side so they are great for little hands, but even my older children loved looking through them.

One semi-negative comment I have is that some of the phrases that accompany each painting tell the reader too much which doesn't let the reader come up with their own meaning and interpretation of the painting. This doesn't happen with each painting or in every book. Some of the phrases are more ambiguous. I guess the easy remedy for this would be to not read the text to your child and just ask questions and have discussions about each picture.

Overall, this is a great series and I highly recommend them.

[Hope L. Justice · Rating 4 out of 5]

The main reason I gave this book in this series a 4 is because the paintings are lovely Surrealist work outside American culture and accessible to AMERICAN children. The plot does work, but just barely, because Surrealism is "dreamlike" so the plot is disjointed, and rejoined with, well this works because it's a dream!

[Sonya Feher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rousseau's paintings illustrate a rhyming storyline about a surreal world of dreaming and nature. This is a soothing bedtime read.

[Naomi]

The illustration was beautiful and very dream-like, which was appropriate. It reminded me of old 16th-century paintings I see at museums. Although it faintly made me think of childhood drawings at the same time.
As for the story, it was simple and I enjoyed it. I felt there was a lot of text sometimes for a board book, but it was still a relaxing and surreal read.