Painting the Wind

by Patricia MacLachlan, Emily MacLachlan, Katy Schneider (Illustrator)

A moving and beautifully illustrated book about summer on one special island.

Bestselling author Patricia MacLachlan teams up with her daughter Emily to create this evocative story of a boy and his dog, waiting for summer, waiting to learn from the artists who come to his island. With beautiful paintings by Katy Schneider, this book captures those perfect moments that only summer in a place that you love can offer.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Art, Dogs, Fiction, Realistic Fiction

40 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Patricia MacLachlan was born on the prairie, and always carried a small bag of prairie dirt with her wherever she went to remind her of what she knew first. She was the author of many well-loved novels and picture books, including Sarah, Plain and Tall, winner of the Newbery Medal; its sequels, Skylark and Caleb's Story; and Three Names, illustrated by Mike Wimmer. She lived in western Massachusetts.

Reviews

[Ruthe Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just spent a lovely summer on an island with artists of all kinds who painted the waves, the clouds, the flowers, faces, sea shells, seascapes, sand dollars, pets, and even the wind. I smelled the salty air, the oil paints and the acrylics. I felt the wind, admired the clouds, ran along the beach, and petted the pets. I watched the dogs, I watched the birds, I watched the dogs watch the birds. I am back from my trip, and I am so rested and refreshed from my summer at the beach. The summer only took 15 minutes through the very descriptive book “Painting the Wind” by Patricia and Emily MacLachlan, illustrated by Katy Schneider. I recommend you take the trip, and take it with a child or two. Don’t forget your paints!

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fabulous story!
A boy paints on his island all winter, waiting for summer when many artists will come to paint. He wants to paint the wind, and watches and learns from what others are painting. Beautiful painted illustrations for this wonderful, almost private, look at the different experiences and styles artists have to express their art. Sweet ending.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Contemporary Realistic
K-3rd grade
This book tells a simple story, but it has an abstract feel to it. It is a fun story and it introduces island life in a completely different way from how it is typically depicted. The focus on different painters leaves this story begging for an art project to follow its reading. I think this would be an excellent book for a classroom.

[Chelsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I enjoyed reading about the boy visiting all of the different painters and their dogs, as well as what I learned from them.

[Nichole · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely book about types of art and artists. We can see the diversity in what and how the artists paint. The artwork of the book is beautiful.

[skcocnaH · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don’t care for this loose art style at all.

[Susan Kennedy]

Borrowing Ideas from other Authors
November 28, 2012 by patjohnson222
I became familiar with this book Painting the Wind at a session I attended at the NCTE conference and immediately went home and ordered it. Rose Cappelli shared some ideas for using this text with student writers. I emailed Rose to make sure it was OK to share her lesson with our readers in hopes that teachers can take it and make it their own. Thanks Rose for saying YES! Rose and her writing partner Lynn Dorfman have written several books (Mentor Texts, Nonfiction Mentor Texts, and Poetry Mentor Texts) filled with dependable classroom ideas that work well with a variety of grade levels.

After sharing the book Painting the Wind, Rose asked us to focus on this paragraph:

“Summer is here. And the painters come back to the island. They come on the mail boat with their paints and easels and bags of books and favorite pots and pans. Some bring their children. All of them bring their dogs.”

As we noticed the variation in sentence length, she shared another from Sarah, Plain and Tall:

“The dogs loved Sarah first. Lottie slept beside her bed, curled in a soft circle, and Nick leaned his face on the covers in the morning, watching for the first sign that Sarah was awake. No one knew where Seal slept. Seal was a roamer.”

The variation in sentence length that Patricia MacLachlan uses certainly adds to the rhythm of the text. But just getting kids to notice something about an author’s writing style will not guarantee that the students will take it on. Rose and Lynn often follow this plan:

Hook the students with a great children’s literature that invites participation.

Share your purpose – tell the kids what the lesson is about

Brainstorm – real life writing ideas

Try a model – demonstrate what you are talking about in front of the kids

Shared/guided writing – let the kids try it with a partner

Independence – have the students look for opportunities in their own pieces

[Olivia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book merely for the water color illustrations. Painting the wind could be used in various ways. One way it could be used would be for teaching about geography or about the landscape. I could ask questions about the location of the boy and his dog. For example, I would ask "Where would do you think this boy lives, based on the descriptions in this book?" Or I could challenge the students with the question, Where wind comes from? Another way this book could be used as a teaching objective would be to teach creativity. I would like to have the children use water colors to paint their ideal landscape or even ask the children, "If you could see the wind, what would it look like to you.? This would hopefully spark their creativity and imagination.

[Kelli McKenna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought that Painting the Wind by Patricia MacLachlan was a little boring and dull, but the artwork which was paintings was exquisite. The reason why I found this picture book boring was because the plot of the story really did not go anywhere, and I do not have much interest in painting. If I had to pick, I would read this story out loud to first graders for a curricular reason-an art unit. The paintings throughout the story also would be wonderful to show the children because the artwork is beautiful and simple. The language in this book was pretty good, it brought up terms like cosmos, foxglove, larkspur and poppy which are all flowers.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful story of the main character (young boy) who lives on the island and paints. In first person, he takes us through describing different kinds of painters who come to the island to paint, but until the end, he doesn’t realize how to “paint the wind”. Lots to celebrate here. The book is lovely with Katy Schneider’s gorgeous illustrations, showing numerous kinds of paintings and telling a little story about different painters. We see those who paint landscapes, still life, portraits, etc. The fact that the ocean is there makes me want to visit.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is so well written that it makes you feel like you are on Nantucket, or perhaps Martha's Vineyard. The writing is excellent and the artwork is great. I think it is interesting that each of the Patricia MacLachlan pictures books I have read they all have different illustrators. I wonder if because the theme of each book is so different it would be ridiculous to have the same illustrator do the same artwork for a different book.

Anyways, the artwork is great, and it makes me want to paint and be on this island. I want to paint the wind!!

[Gail Barge]

This is a fantastic book for an art teacher explaining the different techniques and types of paintings. However, for a teacher in general education, her or she could use this book to explain descriptive words in writing and observation. The young boy in the story apprentices many different painters throughout the summer. This story could even lend itself to a science lesson about wind and how even though you can't see it, it is still there.

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three artists who paint different styles, paint different things at different times of the day. They all paint the same island that they visit each summer.

The book show what each artists is good at such as one artist is really good at portraites. When another is good at painting the mood of the island.

[Lana Clifton · Rating 3 out of 5]

A young boy, who is an aspiring artists, lives on an island where painters come visit for inspiration and work. All summer long, he has opportunities to learn from the best-- among many,he meets painters of flowers and faces. His journey is to learn, learn how to catch the wind with brush strokes bending branches on canvas. I would recommend this book for all lovers of landscapes.

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A young boy watches and learns from the talented artists who come to his island in summer. He is hoping to learn how to paint the wind. Summer days pass, dogs are lazy, and soon all of the masterpieces will be on display...even those that are Painting the Wind.

Used for "Blow, Wind, Blow" Storytime: April, 2012.

[Bethe · Rating 3 out of 5]

a teacher requested this book, I saw the dogs on the cover and had to read it. enjoyed the quiet tone of the book. the illustrator did an excellent job with the different painting styles used by the characters in the story.

[Jaleen Kinser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful book. This provides a window into the world of summer on an island as seen through the eyes of a young boy and several painters. It would be a great model for kids to look at their world through many perspectives.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully illustrated story of a young artist who follows several types of artists around his island and watches as they paint they individual styles. I would use this story to show how painting has many different styles and how the boy grows by watching and learning from the others.

[Stacie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really pretty picture book about painting and summer and dogs. Beautifully painted wonderfully written.

Even better in summertime. Noticed the brightness of the light this time round. Enough for an extra star!

[Lilla · Rating 2 out of 5]

I expected more from Patricia MacLachlan. Was a bit let down.

[Hira · Rating 5 out of 5]

great illustrations

[Sandy D. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't think the text was as amazing as in MacLachlan's other books, but the artwork is really fine.

[Melissa Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many craft moves to teach from this book. Beautiful illustrations. Memories of growing up near the Atlantic.

[Tracy Bailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful art work.

[Lydia]

SUMMARY:
This book was about all kinds of artists and the varying levels of creativity as they come to the beach in the summer time to paint. The main narrator is attempting to find a way to paint the wind. He/She can paint all of the things they want to but has not been able to find a way to paint the wind. The artist eventually uses little pieces of all of the things the other artists and the ways they paint to capture the wind.

EVALUATION:
I liked this book but I thought it was strange to be so deep and emotional of a book but have so specific details of peoples daily lives at the beach. The disconnection between the meaning of what the artist is searching for and what the other artists are doing was weird for me.

TEACHING POINT:
I would use this book for a story starter for writing or an inspriation for students to be creative with an art piece. I would let students pull the inspiration from this book to either create an artistic piece or compose a writing piece from whatever inspiration they found from the book. It could also be used in an art class with the specific examples and pictures of the different artistic strategies.