Leonardo's Pallet, Vol. 4

Children's Literature - Marilyn Courtot

How interesting that Leonardo's grandfather noted the exact time and date of Leonardo's birth in 1452. Unfortunately, he was the illegitimate son of a local official and a peasant. Both parents were eventually married to others and Leonardo ended up with many half brothers and sisters. He had a flair for the arts and his skills were really amazing. His style was different—Leonardo painted scenes and people so well that they look real. Leonardo studied the human body, which resulted in his drawings of people being quite accurate. As the text reveals, Leonardo was a truly accomplished man—an architect, musician and inventor/engineer and blessed with an excellent memory. One of his most famous paintings is "The Last Supper," which is in Milan (having seen it several times, it is quite impressive and each viewing brings more of this great artist's skill to the viewer). Leonardo worked for many powerful people including the Duke of Milan, Ludvico Sforza and Cesar Borgia. While Leonardo's military genius was much respected, many of his designs were too advanced for the craftsmen of his day. Today models have been constructed and they clearly reflect the genius of the man. The concluding pages recap highlights of his life. This series, "Stories of Great People," is set up with a sister and brother team (Digby and Hannah) who visit the Knicknack Market and its vendors. One of them, Mr. Rummage, has a "disorderly jumble of things"—all of which fascinate Digby. These objects serve as the lead in to a story about a famous person. The factual accounts are interspersed with reactions from the kids and the book is liberally illustrated. It has a table of contents, an index, a briefglossary and an introduction to the cast of characters. The design and format are more likely to get kids reading than are most biographies for this age group. Reviewer: Marilyn Courtot