Lester Fizz, Bubble Gum Artist

by Ruth Spiro, Thor Wickstrom (Illustrator)

Everyone in the Fizz family is an artist. Everyone except Lester, whose paintings are pitiful and doodles are drab. Lester doesn’t think he’ll ever be an artist, until the day a mouthful of gum becomes a work of art on Lester’s talented lips. Drawing inspiration from all directions, Lester develops his special talent for artful bubbles and blows the competition away!

Full of wordplay, tongue-in-cheek humor, clever art references, and notes about the famous works referenced in Thor Wickstrom’s exuberant illustrations, this is a delight for young artists and bubble-gum fans.

Genres: Picture Books, Art, Childrens, Fiction, Humor

32 pages, Hardcover

First published August 14, 2008

About the author

Ruth Spiro is the author of the Baby Loves Science series, published by Charlesbridge. These adorably illustrated board books contain expert-reviewed science, yet are simple enough for the very youngest readers. Another new picture book series, Made by Maxine, will be published by Dial in October, 2018.

Ruth is a frequent speaker at schools and conferences, and recent presentations include the Early Childhood STEM Conference at CalTech and the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books.

Reviews

[Charlotte S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone in the Fizz Family is an artist. Everyone except Lester. Even his doodles were drab! Join him as he figures out what kind of art is right for him! I love how famous artists are planted into the story. Like there is an Uncle Edgar (Degas) and also lots of other artists like Georgia O'Keeffe and Frida Kahlo! I also love that this book has hidden 'paintings' in it! The illustrator did an amazing job of placing famous works of art into the illustrations! There's a page in the back of the book that tells you what the paintings are - as soon as I saw it I went back to hunt for all of the paintings! This is such a fun book and I hope that you enjoy it! Thank you for reading! Follow @bronteandwilder on Instagram for more fun book recommendations!

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

My 6 year old son liked this one way more than I did. I enjoyed all the references to famous art and the empowerment for the main character to find his own style, but struggled a little with the tooth fairy/uncle section. My son thought it was great.

[Gail · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I read the notes about the original art, I created a slideshow to share with students. Then created a display with biography books to compliment Lester Fizz.

[Lori Gravley · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engaging approach to a little art history, bubblegum included.

[babyhippoface · Rating 3 out of 5]

Everyone in Lester Fizz's family is artistically gifted, except Lester. All he can do is chew bubble-gum. But when he discovers that he can shape his bubble-gum bubbles, he learns that he's an artist, too.

While I thought the bubble-blowing bit was a little too silly, I really liked the way the works of different artists were referenced throughout the book. I showed it to the Art Teacher at our school, to see what she thought about it. She liked it, and said she would read this book to her students, then have them look at the diagram in the back and find the references to different artists throughout the book. It would force the students to look at stylistic elements of each artist to make the matches.

[Heidi-Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Looking for books to fit a bubble theme. This made me smile and I enjoyed the many art references. (I was actually rather proud of how many I recognized--either the actual artwork or noticing an artist's style.) Not for the preschool crowd. Fine as a lap-read for that age, but I think I'd lose interest as the book is a tad longer than I usually do and a few things might be over their heads. Could work in a school-age storytime--they may enjoy what the gum does and some art intellectuals may see the added humor.

[JustOneMoreBook.com · Rating 5 out of 5]

Celebrated works of art pop up in the silliest of circumstances in this cleverly illustrated tale of a frustrated young artist in search of his niche.

You can listen in on our chat about this book on our Just One More Book! Children's Book Podcast.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute, funny story about how everyone's talents are different, you just have to look for your own! This boy's family are all artists and he finds that his talent is blowing bubbles with his bubble gum into amazing things like the Mona Lisa holding a hot dog and french fries!?! :)

[Relyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an absolutely, super-duper fun book. It is sure to be a hit with my class. I plan to use it in conjunction with a Lawson Buck party. I'll pass out huge pieces of gum and we'll make our own bubble gum art. It should be a hoot.

[Alyson (Kid Lit Frenzy) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lester comes from a talented family of artists. Lester is pretty talented with bubble gum. Does bubble gum art even count? A humorous romp through art history with various characters named after famous artists and references to many art pieces. A fun read.

[Jazmyne Henry]

This book is about Lester and his artistic family. Everyone in Lester's family is an artist except him. Until he discovers something so great in blowing bubblegum. This book can help students find their own new talents. It is also good to demonstrate writer's craft.

[Anna Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect book for teaching art appreciation to children ages Kindergarten through Fifth Grade. Will definitely recommend it to all my volunteers to include in their art appreciation presentations.

[Sam Bloom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very entertaining book about a kid who is at first intimidated by his family of artists, but then discovers his own true talent: bubble-gum art.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intersting for browsing but a little hard to use for school visits.

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really neat. Explains the urge of art ("What do you see?" "What don't you see?" "What do you want to see?") and provides dozens and dozens of famous (and diverse) examples, all within a cute story.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute and inspirational for young artists.

[Corri Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a fun book that I would use to teach kids that everyone has a talent, we just may not know what our talent is.

[Franki Sibberson · Rating 4 out of 5]

art

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Weird, random, I like it.

[Sonnie Schlossmacher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book!! Hall different famous works of art. Rich in vocabulary!

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Can't wait to put this in our art teacher's hands! She reads aloud to every class and will probably really enjoy the nods to all the great artists!

[Allie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recommend to art teacher!

[Carolanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who received a very consistent "C" in Art throughout her school career, I appreciate Ruth Spiro's message of hope for us all!

[Sharie · Rating 3 out of 5]

with effort, can study famous art pieces throughout book

[Ecl Storytellers · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a weird story. Lester makes arty bubbles with gum?