The Incredible Painting of Felix Clousseau

My grandchild LOVED the book and wanted to read it again the very next night. Her father is an artist, so it had special interest to her, I think. I suggested to her parents to take out some of their many art books to let my grandchild look at famous paintings and see what might have happened if they were painted by Felix Clousseau!

This book is a wonderful quirky little classic to add to a good children's book collection. It's funny and charming, and I've been meaning to pick it up after I read it in the library four years ago, so I was glad to see that it was still available.

The notion of paintings that have the ability to come to life is not a new one. I suspect I'm the only person alive today who remembers a bizarre made-for-tv movie entitled, "The Peanut Butter Solution", but I assure you that living paintings were integral to the plot. Similarly, the book, "Liang and the Magic Paintbrush" by Demi is a Reading Rainbow selection about a boy and his ability to create living creatures simply by drawing them. Heck, "Harold and His Purple Crayon" by Crockett Johnson covers similar ground as well! So I was not initially impressed by the notions behind Jon Agee's, "The Incredible Painting of Felix Clousseau". Reading it, however, I found it to be much different from these other drawings-come-to-life plots I'd heard of before. Above all, it's humorous, something the other books definitely lack. It begins with a contest. At the Royal Palace of Paris a "Contest of Art" is held for all the painters in the city. People come from miles around to display their work, and one of them is Felix Clousseau. Clousseau presents his painting, a mere slip of a work of a duck, and the judges are embarrassed for him. When the painting quacks, however, they can't give Felix the top prize fast enough. Suddenly everyone in the city wants a Clousseau of their very own. The trouble is, sometimes Felix's paintings cause more damage than good. With no one to really blame but the painter himself, the owners of the erroneous works of art throw him into prison forthwith. It is only the timely intervention of a thief and a watchdog artwork that shows people the true advantages of owning Felix's paintings. Our last shot is of Felix trudging merrily into his studio... and into a painting of a street. As the book points out, he "returned to his painting". Originally written in 1988 (the same year as "Liang and the Magic Paintbrush", but we won't dwell on that fact) the book is a lovely book to look at. Agee uses beautifully angular black lines to draw everything from affectionate boa constrictors to dapper men in suits. The colors in this book are muted reds, greens, with a lot of grey and brown around them. I don't think I'm wrong when I say that the illustrations in this book are simply a joy to look at in and of themselves. Felix himself is a particularly odd creation. Wearing a beret, a green suit, and spiffy spats you can make out nothing of his face except his beard, nose, and glasses. You never see him actually painting anything, which is odd as well, but then you don't really see him doing much of anything at all in this book. He trudges along with hardly at glance to either side of him. There's not a lot you can gather from a fellow like Felix Clousseau. He obviously keeps to himself. In the end, it's a lovely book. If you have kids that fall in love with it and insist that it be read to them over and over again, you won't cringe at the thought. When a book is this lovingly thought out, it's a pleasure to peruse

When the Royal Palace hosts an art contest, all the great artists come out to submit their paintings, like Gaston du Stroganoff with his painting, "The King on his Throne". However, an unknown artist named Felix Closseau also enters the contest. Except where everyone else's paintings are huge and feature the king, Felix's painting is small, and is of a duck.Considering how seriously the French take their art, you can imagine the uproar at this ridiculous painting. That is, until the duck QUACKS. Then, the duck merrily waddles OUT of the picture itself, and off on it's way. Felix wins first prize.At first, everyone wants to own a Closseau, until disaster strikes wherever his works are hung. A painting called "The Sleeping Python" is held in high regard, until the Python wakes up one night!! Volcanoes fill rooms with smoke, waterfalls gush gallons onto the floor, Closseau himself is put into jail! That is, until one night when a thief breaks into the royal palace to steal the crown...Jon Agee has written or illustrated over a dozen books, including books playing with language-books of oxymorons and palindromes, most noticeably. However, "The Incredible Painting..." ranks as one of my personal favorites because of it's original story and fun ending. It's story is fun, quick moving and easy to read (though beginning readers may have difficulty decoding some of the French-ish names). Closseau himself is quite a character, too: a short stooped man with beret and enormous graybeard that successfully hides his face (and most of the rest of him!). Very young children will love the fun absurdity of things coming out of the pictures, while older children will appreciate the havoc that a living painting can wreck! Fun and highly recommended!

An excellent story for artists of all ages. It is short and simple, with a wonderful twist at the end. I have presented this book as a gift to more than one artist friend, and the reaction has always been positive. A truly "cool" book.