Matisse Dance for Joy

by Susan Goldman Rubin

Here in the latest addition to our contemporary art board-book series, Henri Matisse's exuberant cut-paper art leaps off the page, accompanied by simple, lyrical text sure to delight the very young.

Genres: Art, Picture Books, Childrens

26 pages, Board Book

First published April 17, 2008

About the author

Susan Goldman Rubin is the author of more than forty-five books for young people, including Andy Warhol: Pop Art Painter; The Yellow House: Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin Side by Side; and Edward Hopper: Painter of Light and Shadow. A long-time instructor in the UCLA Extension Writers Program, Susan Goldman Rubin lives in Malibu, California.

Reviews

[Jon Nakapalau]

Great introduction for children to this influential artist. I think it is so important to introduce art to children at a very young age; there is something about art that collectively pulls us together. I find it very sad that today there are lots of children who are not even aware of art and the way it has influenced and shaped our societies.

[Mir]

Nice selection of Matisse paired with descriptive movement sentences, one per page.
I would have preferred the art reproduced without the addition of brightly colored backgrounds (Matisse is vivid enough without extraneous magenta).

I did not try reading this to a child so I can't offer reception feedback. I could see my niece liking it or not depending on her mood.

[Julia Smith]

I got this on a whim -- shoutout to the dollar shelves at the Open Books warehouse in Chicago -- and we like it a lot. Each page pairs an abstract painting with a tiny bit of text that has to do with stillness or motion ("I wave my arms, I stretch, I sway // I take a step and wiggle"), which makes it an engaging read and an easy one to memorize. You can dial up the energy of your delivery depending on the time of day to spark a dance party during the daytime or calm things down at night.

[Devon]

The paintings are beautiful. The high contrast and vibrant colours are really engaging for our son.

The words are painful to read. "I'm a pony prancing. Kickety-kick."

[Kaph]

I like this book. It's quite simple but has good movement cues for bb. More to the point, I really like the selection of Matisse images, especially some of the lesser known ones from private collections. Just the tiniest bit pretentious too, which I consider a plus in this instance.

[Wendy Lawrence]

This book is beautiful, short, colorful, simple, and captures the imagination of even my 2-year-old son. Always great to introduce kids to art; I'm glad authors like this make it so much fun!

[Athena]

I love to dance, too!

[A.C. Bauch]

Five stars for art, four stars for text.

[Alison]

Nice introduction to contemporary art under a dance and joy theme.