When Daisy decides to enter a painting competition she needs to also decide what her favourite things are. So accompanied by her dog Duggie she sets off to explore the world and to find some inspiration for her art.

This is a cleverly conceived idea for a picturebook but does not translate particularly well into this format. Daisy and her dog Duggies have decided to travel the globe in order to try and find out what favourite thing Daisy could paint in order to win the competition. They visit many of the places that are well known to adults, and particularly artisits, for the famous painters that they inspired - for example Saint Remy (Van Gogh), Rouen (Claude Monet). However all the reader is told in the text of the story is what Daisy has decided to paint. We are told very little about her travels, about the excitment of travelling, about all the things that she may have seen or indeed anything about the great artists whose work was equally inspired by the places she visits. This, along with the fact that the story seems to lead nowhere, is disappointing. There is some sense of purpose - winning the competition - and a nice ending but in many ways this is a very unsastisfactory story.

The artwork used to illustrate the story is stunning but the reader is given very little information about it. At times it is rather overwhelming, with its strengh of colour, and because of the way in which it dominates the pages of the book.

This story could work as a non-fiction guide to famous artists. Daisy could become the narrator guiding her reader through the places that inspired these famous artists and the work that they produced as a result. It would also be possible then to take the opportunity to demonstrate some examples of the techniques they each used. However, as a picturebook I feel that the story will not appeal to young readers: there is not enough  of a story, the illustrartion is too strong and complex and the references made to the art are not at all clear. It iis not a story book that I feel comfortable recommending.

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2008-04-24