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This dreamy children's book celebrates Henri Rousseau, the French customs inspector and self-taught painter whose Sleeping Gypsy is one of the most popular paintings in New York's Museum of Modern Art. A mild yet wonderfully self-confident man, Rousseau was something of a mystery to biographers, and still is. This book weaves bits of biographical information into a delightful tour of some of his m... More

This dreamy children's book celebrates Henri Rousseau, the French customs inspector and self-taught painter whose Sleeping Gypsy is one of the most popular paintings in New York's Museum of Modern Art. A mild yet wonderfully self-confident man, Rousseau was something of a mystery to biographers, and still is. This book weaves bits of biographical information into a delightful tour of some of his most lovable works--his self-portrait on the banks of the Seine, in which the gigantically important artist dwarfs some tiny figures on a nearby path and looms over the Eiffel Tower, for one.

After an introduction in which readers learn that Rousseau liked to take long walks in the country on his Sundays off from work, the story develops into a tall tale. A coworker brings Rousseau a leaf from a plant in the botanical gardens, "where the most wonderful plants from far-off lands" grow. The artist then talks his way into the gardens late one afternoon, and, once inside, falls asleep. Dreaming, he meanders through jungles and fabulous settings--his paintings, of course. The dreamscapes will inspire any young fantasist: there is a Native American woman on a chaise in the jungle, surrounded by astonishing flora and fauna; monkeys swinging on vines; a wide-eyed tiger in a thunderstorm; and outsize blossoms that might have inspired William Steig's Zabajaba Jungle. In the end, Rousseau awakes, leaves the garden, and resolves to paint the wonderful scenes of his dreams forever after, much to the delight of real-life art lovers the world over. --Peggy Moorman

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