Lily Brown's Paintings

by Angela Johnson, E.B. Lewis (Illustrator)

Author Angela Johnson and illustrator E. B. Lewis combine their award-winning talents to create a dazzling celebration of family and creativity.

When Lily Brown paints, her world starts to change . . .
trees wear hats and drink tea, people walk upside down, and apples sing all the way home from the store.
It's Lily Brown's world, and it's wondrous.
A little paint and a lot of love bring imagination to life in this captivating picture book. Angela Johnson's lyrical writing compliments E. B. Lewis' delightful watercolors. This book marks a different approach for E. B. Lewis' artwork as his images imitate the great artists, such as Van Gogh and Matisse.

Genres: Picture Books, Art, Childrens, Fiction, Fantasy, Realistic Fiction, Storytime

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 5, 2009

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Angela Johnson is the author of the Coretta Scott King Honor picture book When I Am Old with You; as well as A Sweet Smell of Roses, illustrated by Eric Velasquez; Just Like Josh Gibson, illustrated by Beth Peck; and I Dream of Trains, which was also illustrated by Loren Long. She has won three Coretta Scott King Awards, one each for her novels Heaven, Toning the Sweep, and The First Part Last. In recognition of her outstanding talent, Angela was named a 2003 MacArthur Fellow. She lives in Kent, Ohio.

Reviews

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

First sentence: Lily Brown loves her mama, daddy, and baby brother and the world they live in. Sometimes she spins around her room thinking about their world. And it's wondrous. But when Lily Brown paints, her world starts to change.

Premise/plot: Lily lives happily in two worlds. The second world she lives in is one of her own imagination, her own reckoning.

When Lily Brown paints fruit at the corner market, it is striped and polka-dotted. It speaks to people, then laughs out loud. When people put the fruit in bags to take home, the apples sing all the way there.

At the end of the day, when the painting--for now--has all been done, she happily returns to the real world and LOVES it just as much.

My thoughts: What doesn't this picture book celebrate? It celebrates art, freedom of expression, love of life, love of family, JOY, imagination. I'm sure I could think of more if I keep rereading it. It's just a joy to spend time with Lily.

Text: 5 out of 5
Illustrations: 4 out of 5
Total: 9 out of 10

[Barbara Lovejoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a delightful book!!! What a fun story and the E B Lewis illustrations are fantastic!

[Mario Flores · Rating 3 out of 5]

The paintings within this book were amazing and I truly enjoyed how Lily literally injected herself into her paintings, where she got lost in her own world and changed the way that she saw the world around her. I was impressed at how well the realistic features of her and her family's faces blended in with the cartoon/animated world around her, and I enjoyed learning about how amazed she was with the world around her. The illustrations cover the entire pages and each scene covers 2 pages all through the gutter portions as well. The literature within the book was easy to read and I would recommend this book to teachers that may need a great book to introduce to their students to the world of painting.

[Valeria Ayala-Nazario · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lily Brown is a girl who loves to paint and sees her own world through her paintings. Lily's world is magical and very imaginative. Trees and fruits talk, sing, and laugh in her world. She talks to the beach through paintings, and she sails in her own paintings.
This book would be great to use in an art class with young students. It could serve as a great tool to inspire students when they have a painting task to do. Also, it can teach kids that they can do anything, see anything, and create anything with their imagination and that imagination could take them to a different, fun world of their own. It is great that this book reinforces and encourages imagination because not every young kid knows how to put their imagination at flow.

[Emma Aly · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Lily Brown's Paintings" is about a girl who loves to paint. She uses her imagination to create intricate worlds completely her own. She creates these fantastical worlds, but always returns back to the wonderful world she belongs in.

I liked this book. I thought it was really cute and fun. I also loved the illustrations.

I would use this as a read aloud in an early elementary classroom.

[Kris Dersch · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is glorious! I love the nod to classic art, the whimsy, the creativity. I think this is a great read for artists of all ages and I was surprised it was an author/illustrator combo rather than one person because it merads so well. My one critique is that I wish the illustrator's note went at the end because to open it and see a page of all text is off-putting to picture book readers.

[Just a Girl Fighting Censorship · Rating 3 out of 5]

A celebration of childhood and imagination. Sometimes we forget that children create art just as meaningful. This would be a great read aloud to encourage children to express themselves through art. I also loved how E.B. Lewis alluded to famous paintings throughout.

[Campbell Walters · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book show you the world from the view of Lily Brown as she paints everything she sees. From fruit to trees she has painted it all.

I really like the way this book shows you the way art can impact the view of the world. It has a very concise story that is fun for kids to read. It also will easily be a lesson of how you can imagine the world in your own way yet you are still connected.

[Jo Oehrlein · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story of a girl who lives in her imagination AND in the real world.
She paints what she sees in her imagination and those paintings are inspired by famous painters and paintings (that aren't mentioned).

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing illustrations accompany this sweet story about how a little girl loves the world, but sees all kinds of possibilities when she paints.

[Molly Rhymer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Realistic Fiction. This book is about how a young girl paints and it takes her to a different world.

[Mellanie C · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book!

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Imaginative.

[Jaime · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a beautifully written and illustrated picture book celebrating art and imagination. My first graders thoroughly enjoyed it and were inspired to make their own creations afterwards.

[Conner Crosby · Rating 4 out of 5]

An inspirational book that I'm sure every kid would love to read. Maybe the artists in your class could use this as some good idea material.

[Keri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Category: Grades K-3, Book #15
This is a great story about a little girl's imagination and self confidence. As Lily paints, she allows her mind to take her anywhere she wants to go, and in the meantime knows that she is loved by her family and always accepted by them. It's an adorable story and will encourage children to take risks and feel confident. It's also a great book to encourage kids who love art or to motivate those that are intimidated by it.

Children's Literature
Lily Brown loves her family and the "wondrous" world in which they live. But the world changes when young Lily begins to paint. Magical things happen to the stars and the trees and fruits around her as she paints them. Animals sit on park benches; winds tell stories. "Lily paints all that she sees and feels her own way. She puts her world of color and light on anything she can find. It's magical." And so are her mama, daddy, and baby brother, "wondrous." Lewis uses watercolors to integrate the worlds of Lily's real life and her painted imaginary one. She is visualized naturalistically as a bright, active, African American girl engrossed in her creativity. Her paintings, however, display the many stereotypes of her age, like a yellow sun with rays, humanoid stars with smiling faces, cracker-shaped goldfish, a brilliant rainbow dominating a blue sky. The two styles blend neatly in sequence. The front of the jacket shows Lewis's image of Lily, in contrast with her self-portrait on the back. To encourage budding young artists, Lewis adds a note about his own childhood art experiences and his efforts to pay homage to art masters in his illustrations.

[Jane LoBosco · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book opens up a whole world of imagination for students, seeing the magic that Lily Brown creates. Lily can paint, and the world will transform to any way she chooses. I loved reading this book and seeing how creative the mind of a young child can be. I forget just how wonderful the imagination of children is, and students reading this will absolutely be able to relate to it. This book is full of colorful imagery, and fabulous illustrations that will bring students right into the story. In Lily's world, the trees can wear hats, and anything can happen, which young students will absolutely love. Seeing the world in an out of the box sense is the greatest way to get a child's imagination going. Lily also has a very regular home life that she loves, yet when she paints her world is completely transformed.

This book would be an amazing read aloud, and young students Kindergarten through 2nd would thoroughly enjoy hearing this story. If I was to teach it, I would tie it to an art project or perhaps teach it within an art class. This book would be wonderful as an introduction to abstract art, or even just having the students write a poem or an unlikely story and then draw an accompanying picture. I would love to teach this and see all of the creative wonders that the children can come up with. I believe that children often have a very serious curriculum, and this would be a great way to have a bit more freedom and creativity with the lesson.

[Yvonne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lily Brown has a creative imagination and loves to paint. She takes everyday things and turns them into original artwork. Lily paints stars that come down to earth and walk the streets. She paints a city street lined with dancing buildings and people walking upside down. Lily paints polka-dotted singing fruit that anyone can purchase at the local farmer’s market. All of these paintings take Lily into another world which is ruled by her imagination. But, at the end of the day, her real world is just as fantastic with her mom, dad, and brother.

This is an awesome book filled with creative illustrations painted by a character that has a wonderful imagination. Children from preschool age through second grade would love this book. It shows them to think outside the box and draw and paint things that no one else would think to paint. It shows the children to trust themselves and just go with what they want to create.

A teacher could do the same thing that Lily is doing. They could have the children think of an everyday thing and then have them put their creative touch to it by making it not the usual thing. Then the teacher could have an art show and invite the parents and other classes into their classroom to check out all of the creativity that the children did.

[Megan Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lily Brown loves her mother, father, and baby brother and the world that they live in. But, when she paints, she is taken to a whole other world: her own world. Lily paints everything that she sees and puts her twist on it. Trees that she passes on her way to school become trees that drink tea and bow to Lily when they see her; fruit that people buy in the grocery store/market have polka dots and stripes and talk to each other; but, she always remembers her mother's smile, her father's eyes, and the way her little brother holds her hand when he is falling asleep. When she remembers her family, she is taken back to her reality from the world of her paintings, but she still thinks that her reality is "wondrous".
I liked this book! The illustrations were incredible and very beautiful! I really liked the story; it made me want to grab a paintbrush and paints and start making art.
This book could be used in the classroom to talk about how doing something you love (like art) can oftentimes take you to another world. When you are doing something that you love (like art), you can lose yourself and get so caught up in your work, and I think that that is something to share with kids; it's important to do what you love and have an imagination!

[Molly Lorenz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lily Brown's Paintings is a book that really shows children what it is like to use your imagination and escape your own reality into the land of make believe. In this book Lily paints pictures and begins to imagine her world as if she is living in the pictures. She walks through this world and travels places she could never imagine, sailing through corn and sky scrapers, the trees bow down for her, all things that she created for herself. At the end of the book she realizes how great her family is too and comes back to reality. This book would really stimulate creativity and imagination and be something a lot of children would enjoy reading in elementary school. The illustrations are colorful and creative and really draw you into the story.

[Cami Weaver]

Lily Brown is a joyful little girl who loves her family and the world that she lives in. When she leaves home and walks to and from places, she imagines nature in new way. Everything she sees - she paints, but she likes to use her imagination to put a twist on them. Her creativeness is beautiful and fun to read and look at. By the end of the book, after she has imagined all that she could... she returns home to her family where she tells us is her favorite thing that she doesn't have imagine.

I love this book because it shows how kids interpret art. Lily is so free and reminds/ teaches kids that you can see/make art out of anything. (Which is also how I would use this to teach students using this fun and creative story of Lily Brown.

[Connie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The artwork in the book is mostly not the same as the artwork on the cover - it's Lily's artwork, and it's done in an appropriate style for a young child. This is fine, the book is definitely better that way, but be aware before you purchase.

Lily is, as near as you can tell, a perfectly happy kid living a perfectly happy life. But all the same, she's happiest making her own world - a world where trees can wear hats or animals talk on the phone.

You can really see the joy of creating when you read this book. (Not so much when you read this review. Words are failing me right now in describing it!)

[Beckie Coldiron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lily loves to express her creativity through her magical paintings, which takes readers on an exploration through her imagination. This would be a fun book to pull out for your students when you're wanting them to deepen their creativity. Additionally, you could have students make predictions through illustrations, since the illustrations are quite vibrant in this book. I'd recommend this book for students in 1st through 3rd grade.

[Gordon Pennington · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lily Brown's Paintings is a fantasy book where Lily Brown essentially gets lost in her paintings. She creates very imaginative art where things are much different than reality. I did not like this book. It seemed like an excuse for the illustrator to make bizarre paintings; it was not well-written and didn't really have a point. As I was reading it to kids I was getting bored: children have a sixth sense when you are not enjoying a book. This is one that I hope to never see again.

[Takishia Gabriel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book for those students in our class who enjoys art. Lily is very confident in her art works, so this would give the opportunity for those students who enjoys art to be confident. This book also allows for other students to feel confident in the work they do in the classroom. Family is also represented in a positive way in this book. Allowing children to use their imagination is important, and this book encourages this.

[Angela Record · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great story about a little girl's imagination and self confidence. As Lily paints, she allows her mind to take her anywhere she wants to go, and in the meantime knows that she is loved by her family and always accepted by them. It's an adorable story and will encourage children to take risks and feel confident. It's also a great book to encourage kids who love art or to motivate those that are intimidated by it.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was okay E.B. Lewis does a great job with the illustrations I really like the way he depicts Lily dancing through her paintings. The story does a good job of capturing the creative wonder that the main character has for painting but I think the story falls a little short of being really wonderful. I reads almost like an information book which I didn't expect.

[Ashley Courtemanche · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the illustrations in this book, there colorful and very well to see. I love that there not like all perfect almost like a child did the illustrations. The book is about a young girl that dreams and thinks and puts all of her thoughts in her paintings. Her paintings describe what she sees in the world. Its a great book, the illustrations are funny and colorful.

[Tearese · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the idea of this children's books, and I really enjoy at least half of the paintings in the book. But some of them feel like the author is just trying to fill up the required number of pages.
I love how the artist drew from famous artists; my favorite is the page with Van Gough's bedroom painting..I also like the fruit page.

[deborah · Rating 4 out of 5]

We really liked the story line and the silly things Lily imagines as she paints - for example, a street with people walking upside down. The humour is appropriate for a preschooler, and the imagined worlds were nicely situated in the context of a warm family environment. I would have liked to see more of the adult-style paintings, however. There weren't enough of these gorgeous watercolours.