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Summary
Summary
This gorgeous picture book biography, according to Kirkus Reviews in a starred review, is "a cheerful introduction not only to Wu Daozi, but to the power of inspiration."
Who wants to learn calligraphy when your brush is meant for so much more? Wu Daozi (689-758), known as China's greatest painter and alive during the T'ang Dynasty, is the subject of this stunning picture book. When an old monk attempts to teach young Daozi about the ancient art of calligraphy, his brush doesn't want to cooperate. Instead of characters, Daozi's brush drips dancing peonies and flying Buddhas! Soon others are admiring his unbelievable creations on walls around the city, and one day his art comes to life! Little has been written about Daozi, but Look and So masterfully introduce the artist to children.
Author Notes
LENORE LOOK is the author of the popular Alvin Ho series, as well as several acclaimed picture books, including Henry's First-Moon Birthday and Uncle Peter's Amazing Chinese Wedding , both of which received three starred reviews and were named ALA-ALSC Notable Children's Books. Her latest picture book is Polka Dot Penguin Pottery .
MEILO SO has illustrated many acclaimed and award-winning books, including Kate Coombs's Water Sings Blue, called "evocative" in a Publishers Weekly starred review; Janet Schulman's Pale Male, a New York Times Best Illustrated Book; and Antoine Flatharta's Hurry and the Monarch .
Reviews (6)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Look (the Alvin Ho series) blends mystical realism and biography to create a magical portrait of one of ancient China's famous artists, Wu Daozi. As a boy during the T'ang Dynasty in the seventh century, Daozi is unable to conform in calligraphy class. Instead, "His straight lines splintered into trees. His hooks caught fish. His dots burst into eyes." Later known for his dynamic murals, Daozi paints subjects so realistically they seem to come alive ("Daozi's birds fluttered away. His horses galloped into the mountains"). The young artist's cherubic face with big, black eyes and plump, rosy cheeks will pull readers in at the first page; the brisk narrative and vibrant spreads will keep them reading. So's (Water Sings Blue) breezy ink-and-watercolor illustrations evoke Daozi's flowing style. In some scenes, her naive paintings showcase detailed patterns and myriad colors, like the spread of a mural unveiling featuring vivid banners, buildings, musicians, and dancers. Other spreads of Daozi practicing his craft alone employ a more limited color palette. A fine biographical tribute to the enchanting power of art. Ages 4-8. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
With storytelling flair, Look expertly narrates this enthralling tale about a painter in ancient China whose art fills people with such awe that they claim he has the "brush of the gods." As a young boy, Wu Daozi tries calligraphy, but instead of characters, animals come out of his brush. Eventually he paints beautiful pictures on walls while moving "so fast that his sleeves looked like wings spread in flight," and one day his creations become so realistic that they take off as soon as they're painted. Encouraged by beggar children who (unlike the unbelieving adults) admire his art even when it runs away, Wu Daozi keeps painting, and years later the emperor invites him to create a grand masterpiece on a giant wall in the palace. An old man by the time he finishes, Wu Daozi blissfully walks through an archway in his painting and disappears -- a satisfying conclusion to a story about the power of art. An author's note at the front provides information on the real Wu Daozi (689-759), "known as perhaps China's greatest painter," and describes the book as a fictional version of his life "pieced together from references" in poetry and essays. So's invigorating art, full of graceful brush strokes, perfectly suits a story about the first Chinese artist to introduce "movement in figures and their clothing." jennifer m. brabander (c) Copyright 2013. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* Swirling back through the mists of Chinese history, collaborators Look and So bring children the story of Wu Daozi, an artist with magic in his brush. As a boy in the late seventh century, Daozi was taught calligraphy at least the monks attempted to teach him. However, instead of letters, worms and horse tails fall from his brush, and when he takes his art into the city, his flowers and clouds are so full of vivacity and life that people from all over come to admire his work. But what's this? As Daozi grows older, he's startled to see the butterflies he draws take flight from the paper. A camel walks away from the wall. His crowds of followers dissipate, perhaps because they don't believe the art has come to life, but eventually, a new generation brings him to such heights of popularity that the emperor invites Daozi to paint a magnificent mural on a palace wall one that takes him the rest of his life. The author's note calls this picture book a reimagined life of the painter who brought spirit and motion to Chinese art. Certainly, Look and So have dipped deep into the well of artistry and creativity to produce a book that captures Daozi's essence. The richly colored artwork is stunning in both its scope and particulars; inky calligraphy brushstrokes accent people and places. And the words are equally well chosen: the elderly Dazoi is drenched in the moon's silver tears. This combination of talents happily never forgets its audience in an offering as child-appealing and whimsical as it is handsome.--Cooper, Ilene Copyright 2010 Booklist
New York Review of Books Review
From a Chinese master to rebellious crayons, these picture books affirm the inspirational power of art. ASK a group of kindergartners how many of them are artists and every child will enthusiastically raise a hand. Ask that same question to progressively older groups of kids and the numbers of artists will diminish with each advancing grade, until in high school only a few ink-stained hands rise from the fringes. It seems the older they get, the artists who remain figure out how to turn their increasingly rarefied abilities into something like a magic trick to amaze their friends. I myself once wanted to become a magician - the kind in top hat and tails - but that impulse passed as quickly as my obsessions with ventriloquism and marionettes. The looks of mild curiosity I received when I fumbled my way through beginner's magic tricks paled in comparison with the downright stupefaction I was rewarded with when I used my drawing skills to turn a blank sheet of paper into a Corvette, a spaceship or an alien eating our homeroom teacher. Four new books on art and what inspires it are just right for children who dream of being artists - those classroom magicians whose tools of the trade are not white rabbits, scarves or even boxes containing women to be sawed in half, but rather humble pencils, pens and crayons used to transform a blank canvas, or wall, or page, into anything the imagination can conjure up. "Brush of the Gods," written by the veteran author Lenore Look, with illustrations by Meilo So evoking sumi ink paintings, depicts the life of Wu Daozi, China's "Sage of Painting," who lived during the Tang dynasty. The story opens with the young artist failing miserably at practicing the traditional art of calligraphy. He can't seem to help embellishing the simple characters he is asked to paint ; they become lively portraits of worms, fish and monkeys. (I had a similar problem: My long-division equations grew teeth and turned into alligators.) Wu Daozi succeeds at amazing his classmates and frustrating his teacher, an impressive sleight of hand, even to this day. Over time, Wu Daozi's creativity and enthusiasm refuse to be contained, spilling out of the classroom, into his village, then the local temple and finally the emperor's palace, where he spends his remaining years working on his masterpiece, a grand mural that beautifully blurs the line between art and magic. In "Henri's Scissors," Jeanette Winter rushes through the story of Henri Matisse's childhood, but no worries: it's his second (far more interesting) childhood that fascinates her. After becoming one of the greatest artists of the 20th century, whose only peer, it could be argued, was the aggressively prolific Picasso, Matisse has grown old. Now infirm and confined to bed, he reflects on his past triumphs in a room colored in the deepest blues and purples. But inspiration strikes, and using a pair of common household scissors as his magic wand, Matisse cuts shapes out of brightly colored paper and transforms his sickroom into a mystical garden full of flowers and birds. Then, in the final and greatest feat of his career as artist-sorcerer, "the rainbow of shapes cradled the old artist and carried him into the heavens." "Ike's Incredible Ink" and "The Day the Crayons Quit" are stories not of artists, but of something they have intimate knowledge of: their art supplies. In "Ike's Incredible Ink," Brianne Farley's protagonist is an inkblot who is looking for a new story to write. After a healthy round of procrastination, the cheerful black splatter concludes that he needs to create his very own ink. A blot of ink creating its own ink to write a story? Although I found the illustrations endearing, the narrative's lack of internal logic was a stumbling block I had a hard time getting over. But then again, I've always had a problem with Mickey Mouse owning Pluto. "The Day the Crayons Quit," by Drew Daywalt, rounds out the bunch. Illustrated by Oliver Jeffers, it offers little by way of plot. A schoolboy finds a mysterious parcel of letters addressed to him in what looks just like a child's handwriting. The letters, it turns out, are from his crayons, who deeply resent being typecast according to color. Red is tired of drawing apples and fire engines, Green is bored of coloring dinosaurs and frogs, and so on. Although the crayons' wacky voices are believably the kind of thing creative kids come up with when they're daydreaming, Daywalt's clever conceit seems stretched to its limit. One could imagine that instead of being written as a picture book, "The Day the Crayons Quit" might have worked better as an activity book, with lots of room for kids to add their own drawings to the pages. Although all four books celebrate artists, they are intended for the nonartist as well. Their masterly illustrations and inspiring stories may even recruit a few more children into the magical ranks. * Creative process: In "Henri's Scissors," an ailing Matisse transforms his sickroom into a "rainbow of shapes." BRUSH OF THE GODS By Lenore Look Illustrated by Meilo So 40 pp. Schwartz & Wade Books. $17.99. (Picture book; ages 4 to 8) HENRI'S SCISSORS Written and illustrated by Jeanette Winter 40 pp. Beach Lane Books. $16.99. (Picture book; ages 5 to 8) IKE'S INCREDIBLE INK Written and illustrated by Brianne Farley 32 pp. Candlewick Press. $16.99. (Picture book; ages 4 to 8) THE DAY THE CRAYONS QUIT By Drew Daywalt Illustrated by Oliver Jeffers 40 pp. Philomel Books. $17.99. (Picture book; ages 3 to 7) sFrom "The Day the Crayons Quit." Eureka!: "Ike's Incredible Ink." Dan Yaccarino's latest book is "Doug Unplugged."
School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 3-Young Wu Daozi tries to please his calligraphy teacher, but his brush drips out squiggles and twists and dots, his lines turn into trees, his hooks catch fish, and "his dots burst into eyes, then pigs, and monkeys." Wu Daozi paints on walls in temples and teahouses, and even the great wall surrounding the city. His work becomes known and admired throughout China. One day he paints a butterfly so beautiful and delicate that it appears to be real. When the wind blows, the wing moves, just a little, and the butterfly suddenly flits off. Soon everything he creates either flutters, gallops, or rolls away. No one believes that his paintings come to life, except the children. Then one day, the emperor asks Daozi if he would create a masterpiece on a wall of the palace. Stunning ink, watercolor, and pencil artwork brings to life ancient China and the beautiful children who remained faithful to Daozi. Highly detailed and vibrantly colored, the illustrations render Daozi's paintings with brilliance. Children will appreciate the imaginative aspect of the text as well as the inspiring story of a boy who follows his dreams. Inviting and appealing, this title serves as a great addition to a unit on ancient China or Chinese Art.-Carol Connor, Cincinnati Public Schools, OH (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
The life of the classical Chinese painter Wu Daozi is imagined as a magical artistic adventure. Look's text is brief and impressionistic, conveying with quick brushstrokes the mythical genius of the artist and his own wonder at the miraculous work of his brush. She begins with Wu Daozi as a boy studying calligraphy but discovering that his brush has other plans: "Each day something new and surprising dripped out of Daozi's brush," as lively lines turn into trees, a fish, a horse. So's friendly ink-and-watercolor paintings are a mix of graceful lines and careful detail, conveying a world in motion. The black and white of Wu Daozi's classical-style paintings as she depicts them come alive in bright colors: A butterfly, a camel, a flying dragon fill with color and flap or step off the wall as Wu Daozi finishes painting them. A seated Buddha smiles in glorious colors as Daozi adds a last touch of his brush. Brush strokes emphasize and echo the liveliness of Wu Daozi's work in the flying sleeves of his robe and a swirling shock of his black hair. An author's note gives Wu Daozi's dates and explains his importance to Chinese art, including the fact that none of his 300 frescoes have survived; a note about the legend that Wu Daozi possibly cheated death by painting himself into paradise follows the last enchanting illustration. A cheerful introduction not only to Wu Daozi, but to the power of inspiration. (Picture book. 4-9)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
