Bijou Le Tord’s colourful picture book introduces young readers to the well-loved painter Henri Matisse. In the brilliant sun of Nice, France, Matisse painted the boldest, brightest colours he could imagine, and this book aims to capture and reflect that joy.

Review Bijou Le Tord, the author and illustrator of this work, is an artist in her own right and she has reinterpreted Matisse’s work in this lively picture book. There aren’t any reproductions of his actual work, but I would hope it could be used in conjunction with a study of his paintings, sculpture and stencil work.

Unfortunately, the book is let down quite badly by the typographical design. It is a book for young and beginning readers, and the language is correspondingly simple and accessible but with a light and poetic touch. This works very well. However, the text is laid out in very narrow vertical columns, centrally aligned on the pages. The columns are so narrow that generally there are only one or two words per line, in blocks of up to fifteen lines. I, as an adult reader, found it hard to read and make sense of the sentences unless I went carefully – a beginning reader could be equally confused. It is counter-intuitive to go down rather than across, and it’s such a shame as it really does affect the readability of an otherwise delightful book.

This book would make a pretty addition to a primary library. Matisse is a popular artist to study and base projects around, and this book would certainly be used again and again as an introduction to the man and his work – it’s much nicer to read a story about someone than a dry biography. Most average readers will probably adapt to the clumsy text but the less able will need some kind of assistance. However, it needn’t put anyone off – perhaps a whole new project can be sparked which explores text direction and word pictures!

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2008-08-05