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Alice The Artist
After trying to please her friends by including their suggestions in her picture, Alice decides that it is best to paint it her way.
23 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1988
About the author
Martin Waddell
558 books100 followershttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_W...
Also writes under the pen name Catherine Sefton
Martin Waddell is the author of more than one hundred books for young readers.
Awards: Hans Christian Andersen Award for Writing (2004).
Also writes under the pen name Catherine Sefton
Martin Waddell is the author of more than one hundred books for young readers.
Awards: Hans Christian Andersen Award for Writing (2004).
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
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March 22, 2014I read something about a tiger the other day, a rather unusual tiger, it must be said, and the story, which I’m not going to relate here, reminded me of another unusual tiger I was on familiar terms with once upon a time. He was a large specimen with a red and black striped coat, and he had a habit of bounding from one page to another of the children’s book in which he lived when I first made his aquaintance. If you've just begun to wonder whether he changed abodes during the course of our acquaintance, he may have, because one of the first things I learned about him was that he moved fast, sometimes skipping a page entirely so that all that was left was his tail in the right hand margin of the page. When you turned the page, you might find his body on the next page, intent on whatever he was chasing, or you might not. At least that’s how I remember him but I may be mixing this book up with one about a fish who liked to go from page to page gobbling up smaller fish. Either way, it comes down to the fact that, once upon a time, I turned those tiger pages and those fish pages so often that they have melded together in my memory.
There was a little girl in the tiger book; her name was Alice. Not the more famous Alice but a curious Alice nonetheless. Although still a little girl, Alice was an accomplished artist after her own fashion. She liked laying out pots of paint and brushes. She liked to clip a fresh white page to her easel and, she liked, well, she liked to paint. A dot of colour here, a dash of a contrasting tone there, a big splash in the middle, and before long her picture was....painted.
I was reminded of Alice and the tiger for a second time this week when I sat in front of the blank page on my computer screen, attempting for the second time to write a review of a Raymond Federman book (2024 edit: make that Montaigne's essays) I actually like setting myself up to write a review, glancing through the book again, gathering up the notes I’ve made. I like the expanse of the white page but I get a little anxious about the challenge of covering it with meaningful signs and symbols, and about knowing when I’ve said just enough and not too much.
Alice had no such difficulties, no trouble at all with inspiration; she painted whatever occurred to her, she wasn’t choosy about its significance. One day she painted the view from the window of her room. A hillside and some sky. And a big yellow sun. It was a calm picture, a peaceful picture, perhaps a little empty, but Alice liked it.
The concept of ‘unfinished’ never occurred to Alice; her picture was painted when she stopped painting. It was that simple. I have more difficulty with the concept.
Alice was still admiring her picture when her friends came to visit. The first friend looked at the picture and thought it needed something, perhaps a great pot of flowers right in the middle of the foreground. So Alice added the flowers.
The second friend suggested some honey bees to hover around the flowers and soon the bees were flying all over the bottom half of Alice’s painting.
The third friend suggested a row of trees as a backdrop to the flowers and the bees, and some clouds for the sky. So the trees spread right across the hillside and the clouds soon covered the sun. I'm making some of this up but you get the gist.
Alice stood back and looked at her picture. Her little face looked a bit sad.
I know just how she felt. I often add bits of information to my reviews simply because I think readers won’t get what I’m saying otherwise; before long a slightly interesting piece of writing can turn into....Federman for Dummies Montaigne for Dummies (Montaigne pour les nuls!(and I bet that title exists))
Back to Alice.
It was at this point in her story that the tiger turned up. The tiger was in the mood for a good chase so one by one he chased the children all around the room, in and out of the pages, and right out of the book. Soon there was no one left but Alice, plus the tiger and the painting. The tiger turned his attention to the honey bees, scoffing them and the painting in one great mouthful. Then he ran right out of the story. There was nothing left of him, not even the tip of his tail.
My delete key is a little like Alice's tiger. Sometimes it goes crazy and just wipes out an entire review.
On the second-last page page of Alice’s book, she calmly selected a new sheet of pristine paper and clipped it to her easel. She straightened up her paints and brushes and set to work again. By the last page she had painted a hillside and some sky. And a big yellow sun.
It was a calm picture, a peaceful picture, perhaps a little empty, but Alice liked it.
Now for my second attempt atFederman Montaigne.
There was a little girl in the tiger book; her name was Alice. Not the more famous Alice but a curious Alice nonetheless. Although still a little girl, Alice was an accomplished artist after her own fashion. She liked laying out pots of paint and brushes. She liked to clip a fresh white page to her easel and, she liked, well, she liked to paint. A dot of colour here, a dash of a contrasting tone there, a big splash in the middle, and before long her picture was....painted.
I was reminded of Alice and the tiger for a second time this week when I sat in front of the blank page on my computer screen, attempting for the second time to write a review of a Raymond Federman book (2024 edit: make that Montaigne's essays) I actually like setting myself up to write a review, glancing through the book again, gathering up the notes I’ve made. I like the expanse of the white page but I get a little anxious about the challenge of covering it with meaningful signs and symbols, and about knowing when I’ve said just enough and not too much.
Alice had no such difficulties, no trouble at all with inspiration; she painted whatever occurred to her, she wasn’t choosy about its significance. One day she painted the view from the window of her room. A hillside and some sky. And a big yellow sun. It was a calm picture, a peaceful picture, perhaps a little empty, but Alice liked it.
The concept of ‘unfinished’ never occurred to Alice; her picture was painted when she stopped painting. It was that simple. I have more difficulty with the concept.
Alice was still admiring her picture when her friends came to visit. The first friend looked at the picture and thought it needed something, perhaps a great pot of flowers right in the middle of the foreground. So Alice added the flowers.
The second friend suggested some honey bees to hover around the flowers and soon the bees were flying all over the bottom half of Alice’s painting.
The third friend suggested a row of trees as a backdrop to the flowers and the bees, and some clouds for the sky. So the trees spread right across the hillside and the clouds soon covered the sun. I'm making some of this up but you get the gist.
Alice stood back and looked at her picture. Her little face looked a bit sad.
I know just how she felt. I often add bits of information to my reviews simply because I think readers won’t get what I’m saying otherwise; before long a slightly interesting piece of writing can turn into....
Back to Alice.
It was at this point in her story that the tiger turned up. The tiger was in the mood for a good chase so one by one he chased the children all around the room, in and out of the pages, and right out of the book. Soon there was no one left but Alice, plus the tiger and the painting. The tiger turned his attention to the honey bees, scoffing them and the painting in one great mouthful. Then he ran right out of the story. There was nothing left of him, not even the tip of his tail.
My delete key is a little like Alice's tiger. Sometimes it goes crazy and just wipes out an entire review.
On the second-last page page of Alice’s book, she calmly selected a new sheet of pristine paper and clipped it to her easel. She straightened up her paints and brushes and set to work again. By the last page she had painted a hillside and some sky. And a big yellow sun.
It was a calm picture, a peaceful picture, perhaps a little empty, but Alice liked it.
Now for my second attempt at
September 12, 2017
This book is about a girl named Alice who begins a painting and throughout the story her friends view her painting and give her ideas about what to put into it. She agrees to do as her friends ask and put them into her painting. As she finishes the painting she realizes that everyone has left except for the tiger who asked to be in her painting, and he ends up eating the picture. Alice then comes up with her very own idea and starts to paint. She is pleased with her painting at the end of the story.
The pictures are what caught my eye at first because they are more wide framed not full page pictures, and they have borders around each one. I think the illustrations were made like this to have the pictures resemble a painting which is effective to relating the pages to the story. I also noticed that in the story, as more of her friends were putting in their opinions, the illustrations included Alice's work area shown to be very messy and that connects to how her painting was getting because she was trying to include everyone. This book does an amazing job of portraying that individuality is important and that we don't always need to please others, shown through the ending of the book when Alice goes back to her original painting and says she likes it.
I personally enjoyed the overall message of this story, it portrays the message that we don't always have to do what others ask of us and that we are allowed to be our own person and we might actually end up more pleased by doing what we want as individuals. It is a story that glorifies individuality which I think is very important to the development of kids at a young age who are still finding themselves. This book is one that I think would be a good lesson for a classroom.
The pictures are what caught my eye at first because they are more wide framed not full page pictures, and they have borders around each one. I think the illustrations were made like this to have the pictures resemble a painting which is effective to relating the pages to the story. I also noticed that in the story, as more of her friends were putting in their opinions, the illustrations included Alice's work area shown to be very messy and that connects to how her painting was getting because she was trying to include everyone. This book does an amazing job of portraying that individuality is important and that we don't always need to please others, shown through the ending of the book when Alice goes back to her original painting and says she likes it.
I personally enjoyed the overall message of this story, it portrays the message that we don't always have to do what others ask of us and that we are allowed to be our own person and we might actually end up more pleased by doing what we want as individuals. It is a story that glorifies individuality which I think is very important to the development of kids at a young age who are still finding themselves. This book is one that I think would be a good lesson for a classroom.
April 11, 2011
Alice is an artist and really loves to paint. One particular day she is painting and she makes the mistake of taking suggestions from her friends. Before she knows it, her painting is full. When she asks the Tiger in the room if he likes the painting, he swallows it up. Now that her painting has been eaten by the Tiger she decides to create another painting without suggestions. The story was an easy read and i like how it still had a message. Also the story offers a lot of opportunities for probing students and asking them "why do you think this happened." That said, I really didn't see the connection with the tiger.
September 16, 2011
The book teaches that you can't listen to everyone and you must follow your heart and your own instinicts.
The book introduces quotations and how they are used.
It has alliteration. Show students how it is used and why, the impact on the story
The book introduces quotations and how they are used.
It has alliteration. Show students how it is used and why, the impact on the story
May 8, 2020
A preschool and up book about a young girl making a painting and everyone telling her what to add to it to make it better.
March 31, 2023
Cute story of a girl painting picture as she wanted but a series of visitors tell Alice to add various things which leads to messy situation and resulting artwork she doesn't like.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews