A Day with Picasso (Adventures in Art (Prestel))
Grade 3-6-In a charming text, Pfleger illuminates the artist's genius, eccentricities, and creativity. Picasso's habits such as sleeping late in the morning, painting in his boxer shorts, and keeping a menagerie of animals are mentioned along with his vast creative imagination. Important people in the subject's life such as his agent Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, his wife Fran?oise, and their two children make appearances. Picasso's habit of recycling toys and junk to make sculptures, his work as a theatrical designer, and his importance in the cubist movement are all briefly noted. The stark Blue Period is not mentioned at all. Unfortunately, despite the inclusion of many full-color, fine-art reproductions, the book's overall design is disappointing. Print is superimposed on the page over sepia, blue, or gray-toned photos, often rendering it almost unreadable. Many of the works selected to illustrate Picasso's talents, such as "Portrait of Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler," "Baboon and Her Offspring" and "Child Playing with a Toy Truck" can be found in other texts that are a bit more difficult, such as Florian Rodari's A Weekend with Picasso (Rizzoli, 1993). A one-page synopsis of his life and a listing of the works depicted are appended.Kathryn Kosiorek, Cuyahoga County Public Library, Brooklyn, OHCopyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.