Look! Drawing the Line in Art reviewed in SLJ

Look! Drawing the Line in Art, by Gillian Wolfe
9781845078249 | $23.50 hc | in stock
Frances Lincoln / Publishers Group Canada (Raincoast)

Gillian Wolfe’s Look!: Drawing the Line in Art will be reviewed in January’s School Library Journal:

Look! lies somewhere in between Bob Raczka’s No One Saw (Millbrook, 2002) and Antony Mason’s A History of Western Art (Abrams, 2007). Each spread introduces a different technique, such as “strong lines” and “leafy lines” and shows a work of fine art demonstrating it, reproduced with clarity and in full color. Occasionally, the text defines artistic techniques, such as perspective and shading. Each spread has kid-friendly ideas for making one’s own creations; the suggestions range from simple (breathing on a windowpane and drawing a line with your finger) to intricate (designing a bridge). There is a wide range of dates for the art featured, beginning in the 1600s and ending in 2003. The text describes how each piece was created and includes some anecdotal stories about the artist and the work. However, it can be puzzling: for instance, in a scene depicting Jesus praying while Judas and his soldiers advance to arrest him, the first line of text reads, “What an astonishing landscape!” Ultimately, however, this is an accessible introduction to art history. A concluding section gives a bit more information about the artist next to a small reproduction of the featured art.–Laura Lutz, Queens Borough Public Library, NY