Simplify the following text for a Grade 8 native English-speaking person.
Original: In his Lives of the Artists , Giorgio Vasari relates that Giotto was a shepherd boy , a merry and intelligent child who was loved by all who knew him .
Simplified: In his Lives of the Artists , Giorgio Vasari tells the story of how Giotto was a shepherd boy , a merry and intelligent child who was loved by all who knew him .