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Katie
Katie's Picture Show
Katie's first visit to an art gallery turns out to be wonderfully exciting when five famous paintings come alive for her.
Join the ever-curious Katie as she discovers that art can be fantastic fun - particularly when you step into the world inside the
Includes reproductions of:
The Hay Wain by John Constable
Madame Moitessier Seated by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres
Les Parapluies by Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Tropical Storm With a Tiger by Henri Rousseau
Dynamic Suprematism by Kaimir Malevich
"Exuberant illustrations and a fun approach to looking at paintings."
- School Librarian
"An absolute delight!" - Junior Educator
Join the ever-curious Katie as she discovers that art can be fantastic fun - particularly when you step into the world inside the
Includes reproductions of:
The Hay Wain by John Constable
Madame Moitessier Seated by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres
Les Parapluies by Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Tropical Storm With a Tiger by Henri Rousseau
Dynamic Suprematism by Kaimir Malevich
"Exuberant illustrations and a fun approach to looking at paintings."
- School Librarian
"An absolute delight!" - Junior Educator
32 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1989
About the author
James Mayhew
138 books88 followersJames Mayhew's first book for children was Katie's Pictures Show, (Orchard Books 1989) establishing the long running series about a child's adventures in an art gallery. Many of his books have a cultural agenda and James is passionate about introducing children to art, music, opera, ballet and traditional tales.
He has published over 60 books, and illustrated and written for many other colleagues including Philippa Pearce, Martin Waddell and Jackie Morris.
As a storyteller he has devised and performed a series of sell-out concerts for children with the de Havilland Philharmonic Orchestra, and has participated in prom performances at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
He has also created designs and illustrations for the Kirov Mariinsky Opera of St Petersburg and in 1994 won the New York Times award for one of the ten best illustrated books on the year (The Boy and The Cloth of Dreams).
He has made regular appearances at the National Galleries in Edinburgh and London and visits many schools, and arts and literary festivals.
James is a member of the Art Worker's Guild and the Society of Authors.
He has published over 60 books, and illustrated and written for many other colleagues including Philippa Pearce, Martin Waddell and Jackie Morris.
As a storyteller he has devised and performed a series of sell-out concerts for children with the de Havilland Philharmonic Orchestra, and has participated in prom performances at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
He has also created designs and illustrations for the Kirov Mariinsky Opera of St Petersburg and in 1994 won the New York Times award for one of the ten best illustrated books on the year (The Boy and The Cloth of Dreams).
He has made regular appearances at the National Galleries in Edinburgh and London and visits many schools, and arts and literary festivals.
James is a member of the Art Worker's Guild and the Society of Authors.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
June 23, 2020
Katie visits London with her Grandma, who says to her, 'Let's go into the art gallery and look at some pictures.' They enter through revolving doors and Katie teases her Grandma by spinning her round a number of times. Consequently Grandma needs a sit down before she goes round the gallery but she tells Katie to go ahead and have a look around.
Katie finds an empty room because she does not like crowds and she stops in front of John Constable's 'The Hay Wain'. As all the pictures have a notice stating 'PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH' Katie can't resist having just a little touch. And that starts all the magic off for her.
With 'The Hay Wain' she is immediately transported past the frame into the scene of the painting and she declares, 'This isn't a picture at all. It's real.' She enjoys herself and has some adventures with the men on the cart in the picture before climbing out and back into the gallery.
She goes past a sleeping guard into another room and repeats her touching of the painting with Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres' 'Madame Moitessier Seated' and once again she is transported past the frame. Then, after enjoying conversation and taking tea with the good lady herself, as well as looking out into the gallery to view the other visitors who were admiring the painting, she climbs out back into the gallery.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir's 'Les Parapluies' is her next venture and she finds herself playing hoop-la with the little girl in the forefront of the picture while the watching ladies keep out of the sun under their umbrellas. However, there is a mishap and the hoop flies out into the gallery; the little girl cries but Katie sees no problem and just nips out to collect it.
But it is not as easy as she imagines and she finds herself climbing into Henri Rousseau's 'Tropical Storm With a Tiger' to look for the hoop. She is alarmed to find herself in a wild jungle and she is afraid of the tiger but fortunately for her the tiger is more afraid of her and he runs off into the trees. Emboldened, she goes off in search of the hoop and, after facing up to a lake full of crocodiles, she finds the hoop on the branch of a tree. She gets it down, goes back into the gallery and throws the hoop back to the delighted little girl in the picture.
She then finds herself in a modern art room with very different pictures, one of which is Kasimir Malevich's 'Dynamic Suprematism', which features, among other objects, a large triangle. 'It would be fun to climb up that triangle,' thinks Katie so, with nobody watching, she climbs into the picture. Sliding down the triangle she screams, 'Wonderful' but she cannot stop falling and she begins to be afraid. 'Help!' she cries as she does not want to be eaten by a piece of modern art.
Fortunately a guard hears her shout and tells her, 'Hang on there!' He then throws a rope into the picture and Katie grabs it and is pulled out of the picture. 'That will teach you to obey notices,' says the guard and Katie apologises and tells him that she will not do such a thing again.
She cleans off splodges of paint that had got on her from sliding down the triangle and returns to Grandma, who is snoozing on a comfortable chair. She wakes Grandma up and tells her that she has had a wonderful time, adding, 'I really like looking at pictures.' Grandma is pleased and the pair of them go off to have a cup of tea and a cream cake.
Beautifully illustrated and with reproductions of the relevant paintings, James Mayhew has given us a delightful story and presents a fun approach to viewing works of art.
Katie finds an empty room because she does not like crowds and she stops in front of John Constable's 'The Hay Wain'. As all the pictures have a notice stating 'PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH' Katie can't resist having just a little touch. And that starts all the magic off for her.
With 'The Hay Wain' she is immediately transported past the frame into the scene of the painting and she declares, 'This isn't a picture at all. It's real.' She enjoys herself and has some adventures with the men on the cart in the picture before climbing out and back into the gallery.
She goes past a sleeping guard into another room and repeats her touching of the painting with Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres' 'Madame Moitessier Seated' and once again she is transported past the frame. Then, after enjoying conversation and taking tea with the good lady herself, as well as looking out into the gallery to view the other visitors who were admiring the painting, she climbs out back into the gallery.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir's 'Les Parapluies' is her next venture and she finds herself playing hoop-la with the little girl in the forefront of the picture while the watching ladies keep out of the sun under their umbrellas. However, there is a mishap and the hoop flies out into the gallery; the little girl cries but Katie sees no problem and just nips out to collect it.
But it is not as easy as she imagines and she finds herself climbing into Henri Rousseau's 'Tropical Storm With a Tiger' to look for the hoop. She is alarmed to find herself in a wild jungle and she is afraid of the tiger but fortunately for her the tiger is more afraid of her and he runs off into the trees. Emboldened, she goes off in search of the hoop and, after facing up to a lake full of crocodiles, she finds the hoop on the branch of a tree. She gets it down, goes back into the gallery and throws the hoop back to the delighted little girl in the picture.
She then finds herself in a modern art room with very different pictures, one of which is Kasimir Malevich's 'Dynamic Suprematism', which features, among other objects, a large triangle. 'It would be fun to climb up that triangle,' thinks Katie so, with nobody watching, she climbs into the picture. Sliding down the triangle she screams, 'Wonderful' but she cannot stop falling and she begins to be afraid. 'Help!' she cries as she does not want to be eaten by a piece of modern art.
Fortunately a guard hears her shout and tells her, 'Hang on there!' He then throws a rope into the picture and Katie grabs it and is pulled out of the picture. 'That will teach you to obey notices,' says the guard and Katie apologises and tells him that she will not do such a thing again.
She cleans off splodges of paint that had got on her from sliding down the triangle and returns to Grandma, who is snoozing on a comfortable chair. She wakes Grandma up and tells her that she has had a wonderful time, adding, 'I really like looking at pictures.' Grandma is pleased and the pair of them go off to have a cup of tea and a cream cake.
Beautifully illustrated and with reproductions of the relevant paintings, James Mayhew has given us a delightful story and presents a fun approach to viewing works of art.
July 27, 2021
With kids who are first introduced to classical art, they're trained by peers and society really to find art "boring" no matter how excited mom or dad is to teach it to them. This book is a great companion to our story time on days we are learning about classical artists. It helps them engage with whatever artist and painting they're viewing on a deeper, empathetic level that lends itself to emotions they otherwise refuse to formulate when viewing art.
Yes, Katie touches paintings that clearly say Do Not Touch. It's an easy enough book to read and stop and discuss, as we should be doing with all books anyways, that perhaps Katie shouldn't have disobeyed. The message to obey signs is written into the story line so, parents, don't fret. Let the book spark your child's imagination and help them to discern between good and bad behaviors and their consequences.
Yes, Katie touches paintings that clearly say Do Not Touch. It's an easy enough book to read and stop and discuss, as we should be doing with all books anyways, that perhaps Katie shouldn't have disobeyed. The message to obey signs is written into the story line so, parents, don't fret. Let the book spark your child's imagination and help them to discern between good and bad behaviors and their consequences.
November 10, 2022
Katie went into some painting and met a few famous characters from lovely paintings.
July 8, 2025
While the Goodreads info has a later copyright than the hardback title of the same work, I think this is the first title in the Katie series. I really enjoyed this one as it seemed very childlike in Katie’s approach to the art works. Katie was jumping right in and having her childish fun and mischief with those in the art works.
And the pattern of this series is set from the beginning, Grandmother takes her to the museum, falls asleep, and Katie is off to look at art.
MAYHEW gives a one page info about the five art works including the advice even though Katie touched the paintings you must as they are expensive, look at just a few paintings during your visit and look at the detail, the colors, and shapes.
Perhaps this should have been published in all the Katie titles. By the way the book I read was copyrighted in 1989.
And the pattern of this series is set from the beginning, Grandmother takes her to the museum, falls asleep, and Katie is off to look at art.
MAYHEW gives a one page info about the five art works including the advice even though Katie touched the paintings you must as they are expensive, look at just a few paintings during your visit and look at the detail, the colors, and shapes.
Perhaps this should have been published in all the Katie titles. By the way the book I read was copyrighted in 1989.
March 28, 2019
Katie's adventures inside real paintings are neat to see, but I didn't like her touching the paintings when the signs said no. Then she gets stuck in one and the gallery guard is very upset with her. I prefer some of Katie's other adventures written by James Mayhew just because the mood is happier.
August 20, 2017
What a delightful way to introduce young readers to high art: Katie goes the museum and enters the world of various classic paintings and converses with their subjects.
June 4, 2019
I was a bit taken aback by Katie's character in this, what I assume is the 1st book. Otherwise a great intro to lots of paintings for kids
August 10, 2021
Delightful book. I don't really like the illustrations other than the art and the flippant air of the child but the idea is really wonderful. I'm looking forward to checking out the whole series
January 5, 2023
A beautiful picture book with a unique way to introduce children to art museums, ideally leading to an appreciation of art itself.
March 18, 2024
Wonderful story about getting lost in the paintings...
January 30, 2025
A wonderful little book to introduce children to a visit to the art museum.
July 22, 2020
Love the Katie series but this one isn't at the top of my list. The first in the series, I think it was still finding it's footing, but Katie is a bit more mischievous in this one than the later titles. She seems to be pestering everyone on purpose. I think the Katie books that work the best are those where she has a kid as a friend she's running around with, like Katie's Sunday Afternoon, Katie and the Sunflowers, or Katie meets the impressionists. But the story still works and introduces kids to a number of great paintings and painters. Definitely worth a read. My three year old enjoyed this, and the other Katie stories, and requests them often!
July 19, 2024
I don't love that Katie repeatedly disrespects museum rules and overall has a much brattier attitude in this adventure in comparison to the other Katie books, so that became a topic for discussion for my little boys and myself.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews