Synopsis: Katie’s first visit to an art gallery turns out to be wonderfully exciting when five famous paintings come alive. A slender, full-colour softback.

Review: I loved the idea of this book. Katie goes to a gallery with her grandma, and is given permission to wander off and look at paintings. I did have a moment of doubt (no-one wants their child ambling alone around a London gallery!) and that’s compounded when Katie starts to touch the paintings. However a sensible child will know it’s fantasy, and a prescient adult will ensure they don’t take it to heart.

The paintings that she wanders into tell little stories. It is a shame that they are not reproduced much larger, so that the reader can see all the details mentioned; I’d recommend having a good quality book of art to hand when reading this book. The reader will get so much more out of it, if guided by an adult. That adult doesn’t have to be an art specialist at all; all that’s necessary is a sense of exploration. Even better, of course, would be to see the originals but they are all in the National Gallery or the Tate. However, after reading this book, a child – or indeed, a whole primary class – could then visit a good local gallery, choose their own painting and write their own ‘Katie story’ to it.

It’s a short book but one that has a lot of jumping-off points for a teacher or adult with some imagination. The illustrations are loose and dynamic, and quite characterful. It is well written in a clear and unchallenging style, making it ideal for the primary class.

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2008-06-15