Botticelli's Bed & Breakfast
Pienkowski, an award-winning illustrator of children's books, takes the art of the pop-up book to a new level of ingenuity and intricacy with this witty visual treasure hunt. Fifty-six great artworks are scattered through the ten old, sometimes haunted, rooms of his creation, Botticelli's Bed & Breakfast. The Honeymoon Suite is occupied by the Arnolfinis (Vermeer's young bride and groom), while Vermeer himself can be found painting in Van Gogh's attic upstairs (Mr. Van Gogh being absent due to a ``shaving accident''). Whistler's mother (``our oldest resident,'' claims the guidebook) sits in the library in front of the TV, watching the Da Vinci Fitness Training program, while Michelangelo's David, dressed in skivvies, brushes his teeth in the bathroom. Pull-out tabs, secret doors, and underground hideaways add to the whimsy and wit of Pienkowski's inventiveness. Take the guided tour yourself. And if you can't locate all 56 artworks, there's a key to identify them--ah, but where is the key hidden? --Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.