Katie and the Sunflowers

An enchantingly delightful little book. The story is fun, and the illustrations are exceedinly well done. I bought the book for myself, but it would be an excellent means of exposing children to some of the world's finest masterpieces and the great masters that painted them!

James Mayhew's series about Katie is just wonderful. It is a beautifully illustrated way to introduce art to a child. Using real masterpieces to enhance each story, the reader is transported to a world previously undiscovered. And visiting museums afterward will never be the same! I highly recommend the entire series.

Katie and her grandmother head to the museum on a rainy day and when grandma sits down to rest, off Katie goes to explore quickly getting into trouble. The rest of this story tells of Katie's attempts to clean up the mess she makes when she attempts to gather sunflower seeds from a Van Gogh painting. Mayhew incorporates visits to multiple post-impressionist painters, including more Van Gogh, Gauguin and Cezanne. My 4 1/2 year old son loves this story and others by Mayhew (Katie and the Impressionists, Katie and the Mona Lisa) I think in part because he can identify with how much trouble Katie causes! However, it all comes out ok in the end, which reassures him and he learns a considerable amount about art in the telling of the story...if not any lessons on museum etiquette! A delightful, engaging book for young kids with beautiful illustrations of post-impressionist masterpieces. This books gets frequently requested at bedtime by my son. I highly recommend it. If you're interested in other authors, my son also likes Laurence Anholt's books about Picasso and Leonardo da Vinci. We have also purchased The First Starry Night, by Joan Shaddox Isom, which is gorgeously illustrated, but for some reason he doesn't like that one as much as others...perhaps it's because Van Gogh leaves the little boy in the story in the end.

It's begun to rain, so Katie and her grandma can't finish working in the garden, and decide to go to the museum. As soon as they arrive, Grandma sits down for a little rest, so Katie scampers off to see what interesting and beautiful paintings she can find today. She likes Sunflowers by Vincent Van Gogh, the way the flowers look full of seeds, all dry and crunchy. Katie reaches into the picture to touch them and knocks over the vase, spilling the sunflowers all over the museum floor. Before she can clean up the mess, and put the flowers back into the painting, she hears giggles coming from the next frame, and that's when all the fun begins..... James Mayhew is back, and those who loved Katie And The Mona Lisa and Katie Meets The Impressionists, are in for another wonderful romp through the art museum, this time with the postimpressionists. Follow Katie as she meets and enlists the help of Breton Girls Dancing by Paul Gauguin, chases a dog into Vincent van Gogh's Cafe Terrace At Night, wreaks havoc with Paul Cezanne's Still Life With Apples And Oranges, and steps into Gauguin's Tahitian Pastorals to go wading at the beach. Mr Mayhew's simple and charming text is full of energy, humor, and fun, and complemented by his marvelously creative and engaging artwork. Little art lovers will enjoy all the silly antics in this charming chain-of-events story, as Katie works to finally set everything right again at the end. Perfect for youngsters 4-8, Katie And The Sunflowers includes a short afterword detailing the postimpressionist period, and further information about each of the paintings in the story. This is a picture book that's sure to peak everyone's interest, and send you and your family to the nearest museum for an adventure of your own.

If you enjoyed the other Katie adventure stories by James Mayhew, you will be happy to add this to your collection. Katie takes children on a trip to the Post-Impressionists' section of the neighborhood art museum. There she travels in and out of paintings by Cezanne, Van Gogh, and Gauguin. Everytime my niece sees these Mayhew books she wants to know when we are going back to our city's art museum. A recommended book for any library.