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This is one of a brilliant series of books for children on individual artists of the 20th century (others include Matisse and Bonnard). Each is a perfect, multifaceted gem, with excellent reproductions and riveting text. The author understands a child's natural inclination towards drama, and she begins this book with a gripping tidbit of biography. In "Au feu!"--the A page of the volume on Chagall... More

This is one of a brilliant series of books for children on individual artists of the 20th century (others include Matisse and Bonnard). Each is a perfect, multifaceted gem, with excellent reproductions and riveting text. The author understands a child's natural inclination towards drama, and she begins this book with a gripping tidbit of biography. In "Au feu!"--the A page of the volume on Chagall--the story opens, "On July 7, 1887, in Vitebsk, Russia, the birth of a boy is celebrated." But "he is small and pale, in fact, too pale. His parents panic.... Suddenly, cries of 'Fire! Fire!' ring out in the street." The new mother's bed is carried outdoors to safety, and "the baby gives a weak cry. He will live, and they will call him Marc, Marc Chagall." Each letter of the alphabet introduces a story. F, for "fianc�e," describes Bella, the daughter of jewelers who thought of Chagall as a "so-called artist," unworthy of their "beautiful, intelligent daughter," who nonetheless became "his wife, his muse, his accomplice." O is for "Ombre," the shadow that falls across Chagall's life as World War II begins. Chagall immigrates to the United States, where he is received with open arms, "but he knows that his fellow Jews are being hunted down and martyred. He paints somber canvases, which speak of exodus, torture and desolation." Chagall's green-painted faces, flying brides, wandering Jews, flaming buildings, and other well-known images are discussed in prose that is simple but vivid. This is one of those rare books for children in which the art and the reader are treated with equal respect. --Peggy Moorman

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