| Grandma Moses's
own words, excerpted from her memoirs, and reproductions of her evocative
primitive paintings provide a solid foundation for this appealing volume. The
excerpts appear on the left of each spread on an oval, darkened to appear
like parchment, opposite a related painting on the right. Less strong is the
book's third component, which appears on the right below each painting:
Nikola-Lisa's (One Hole in the Road) simplistic and uneven interpretation of
the artist's environment and lifestyle, which reads as a run-on commentary
more or less thematically tied to each piece of art. He starts out describing
Moses's world objectively ('When Grandma Moses looks out her window, she sees
a world of spotted cows, and rolling hills, and white picket fences'), then
abruptly gives the narrator a role in the goings-on ('With Christmas around
the corner,/ we'll have lots of fun outdoors,/ and indoors, tooA/ opening
presents, playing games,/ and feasting on food/ we've helped prepare'). Yet
his captionlike account succeeds in creating a through-line for the
paintings, which youngsters may appreciate. Aimed at considerably more
advanced readers, Moses's own writing effortlessly brings children back to
the era of her childhood as she describes the diversions of each season. Ages
4-10. Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. |
