Monet: Shadow & Light [VHS]
The Artists' Specialsare six sensational new hour-long family dramas from Devine Entertainment, the folks behind the award-winning children's dramaBeethoven Lives Upstairsand other graceful profiles of historical figures.Normally, the term 'children's drama' would send your average 10-year-old screaming from the TV room. Children's dramas based on the lives of famous painters? Pass the Nintendo.  However, my 10-year-old daughter was completely enthralled by this series, which profiled Impressionist masters such as Degas, Monet, Renoir and Mary Cassatt.  What hooks this almost impossible to hook young audience is Devine's device of revealing these historical figures through the eyes of a child.Obviously, liberties are taken; Rembrandt and Goya didn't really pal around with tweens. "The fictional characters are always the young people," says David Devine, president of Devine Entertainment. "But often they're based on young people found in some of these artists' more famous paintings."Monet: Shadow and Lightstars Stuart Hughes as the 19th century French Impressonist. He and his starving artist pal Pierre Auguste Renoir (Richard Clarkin) stay one step ahead of their creditors with the help of Daniel, a budding young artist (Trevor Blumas).Next time your child is looking to try something new, steer them towards these excellentArtists' Specials.A 2000 Parents' Choice® Gold Award.Reviewed by Bill Brioux, Parents' Choice® 2000--FromParents' Choice®Each of The Artists Specials revolves around a life-altering encounter between a famous artist and a child, both of whom are at a personal or professional crossroads. Through the course of each story, not only do the artist and the child learn more about themselves and each other, one helps the other to overcome a series of difficulties and, ultimately, to succeed^E So well-crafted, thoughtful and intelligent are these hourlong specials that parents are likely to enjoy them just as much as their kids. Although the programs seek to teach younger viewers that even the greatest artists faced major stumbling blocks on the road to success, adults will find many of their own quandries reflected in the artists' dilemmas.  --The Los Angeles Times, May 11, 1999