CLAUDE MONET: THE PAINTER WHO STOPPED THE TRAINS, by P.I. Maltbie, ill. by Jos. A. Smith (Abrams 2010). This nonfiction picture book tells the story of Claude Monet's winter at the Saint-Lazare train station in Paris, where he created an innovative series of paintings of trains arriving and leaving.
The text is engaging, informative, and sometimes amusing. The art is occasionally whimsical and yet evokes the impressionist style, especially the scenes in the train station. CLAUDE MONET provides a fascinating look at an artist more known, perhaps, for water lilies than the products of industry. Paintings from the Saint-Lazare series can be found at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Harvard Art Museum.
By Tina Vasquez, for The Children’s Book Review
Published: September 29, 2010
Claude Monet: The Painter Who Stopped the Trains
By P.I. Maltbie (Author), Jos. A. Smith (Illustrator)
Reading Level: Ages 5-9
Hardcover: 29 pages
Publisher: Abrams Books for Young Readers (2010)
Source: Publisher
It’s difficult to imagine a time when paintings of a train station could illicit outrage and be considered cutting edge, but in 1800’s Paris artist Claude Monet created quite a stir when in 1877 he painted a series of pictures of the Gare Saint-Lazare, a Paris train station.
As young readers will discover, Monet was a founding member of the impressionist movement, characterized by their bright strokes of color and their focus on everyday scenes rather than events from history, myth, or legend. This is where the controversy comes in, as the focus on modern life was very new and unfamiliar at the time to the public and the critics alike.
At first many were critical of Monet’s artistic style, but it was his train portraits that gained him acclaim and acceptance and in Claude Monet: The Painter Who Stopped the Trains, we learn how the initial inspiration for his series of portraits came from his young son Jean.
This story is as interesting as it is educational and young readers will first be drawn in by the beautiful artwork, but then stay for the story of Monet’s trains.
Add this book to your collection: Claude Monet: The Painter Who Stopped the Trains
CLAUDE MONET: THE PAINTER WHO STOPPED THE TRAINS, by P.I. Maltbie, ill. by Jos. A. Smith (Abrams 2010). This nonfiction picture book tells the story of Claude Monet's winter at the Saint-Lazare train station in Paris, where he created an innovative series of paintings of trains arriving and leaving.