Monet and the Impressionists for Kids: Their Lives and Ideas, 21 Activities (Volume 6)

For Kids

by Carol Sabbeth

A lifelong love of art is one of the greatest gifts an adult can bestow on a child—and no period of art is better loved or more available to children than Impressionism. Monet and the Impressionists for Kids invites children to delight in Cassatt’s mothers and children, Renoir’s dancing couples, and Gaugin’s island scenes; 21 activities explore Monet’s quick shimmering brush strokes, Cezanne’s brilliant rectangles of color, Seurat’s pointillism, and Degas’ sculpture-like circles of dancers. Kids will learn how the artists’ friendships sustained them through repeated rejection by the Parisian art world, and how they lived, painted, and thrilled to the vibrant life of Paris at the approach of the 20th century. A resource section guides readers to important museums and Web sites around the world.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Childrens, Biography, History

152 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2002

Reviews

[Athornton]

Good read- easy biographies and some of the activities are cute and I think I'll try with my class! What kid (even high school aged) wouldn't want to try and do sugar cookies using the pointillism technique like Seurat?

[Naomi]

Absolutely loved this book partnered with activities for kids to do. I thought that the text was more for middle schoolers versus the age group I saw the book placed with. Would definitely use this in a learning situation.

[Annie Kate]

This spring the National Gallery of Canada is hosting an exhibition about the Impressionists; we bought a membership for this exciting event. To prepare, I borrowed Monet and the Impressionists for Kids by Carol Sabbeth from the library....
...
This book by Carol Sabbeth discusses Impressionists Claude Monet, Pierre Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas, Mary Cassatt and Post-Impressionists Paul Cezanne, Paul Gaugin, and Georges Seurat. Sabbeth begins with a historical overview of Paris and the art world in the late 1800s. She presents highlights of each artist’s life and discusses the paintings, making connections between the various Impressionists, the past, and the future. Brimful of stunning paintings and details, this book is accessible even to children who cannot read, and is interesting even to adults who understand art. In between, of course, are the teen years when it can be difficult to interest anyone in anything, but Monet and the Impressionists for Kids at least helps somewhat....
...

You can read my complete review here: https://www.thecurriculumchoice.com/m...

[Melissa]

I read this as an adult and thought it was good. It is a quick read which gave me a nice overview of the Impressionists. I was surprised to learn that many of these artists knew each other and were friends. It provides interesting tidbits of information about who the artists were including their family background and personalities. The perfect book to read to enrich a visit to the museum.

[Laurie Wheeler]

Great activity and history book all-in-one! We used this for our homeschool Dialectic history studies.

[Grace]

Great chronological summaries of the Impressionist movement, Post-Impressionist movement, the cultural context, artist biographies and descriptions of their unique styles. I liked that it included female artists. Pictures include the paintings it describes. There are easy-to-do but thought-provoking activities recommended for kids. Packs a lot in a book for kids!

[Heather]

I loved this book! I learned a lot about the Impressionists' personal lives and their individual painting styles. It made me fall in love with their paintings all over again.

[Anna]

This book was one of several resources I've used to teach an art class for children, and it has great stories and fun activities to learn different art techniques and styles.