Vincent Van Gogh

Children's Literature - Kathleen Karr

Another import from Britain's "Tell Me About" series, Malam's easy reader joins the current Van Gogh bandwagon. The usual territory is covered, with a nice selection of drawings, paintings, and photographs, as well as a brief appended chronology and glossary. Malam's one detour from other Van Gogh books in this age range is a matter-of-fact acknowledgment of the artist's mental illness, the ear-cutting incident, and the suicide.

School Library Journal

K-Gr 3-These brief, chapterless titles introduce the youngest readers to two important artists. Each man suffered terrible hardships throughout his short life, which is well illustrated in both books. Chopin was sick with tuberculosis and had a failed relationship with the French writer George Sand. Van Gogh's mental illness and suicide are discussed. The clear and concise texts are interspersed liberally with photographs and reproductions. Examples of van Gogh's paintings and Chopin's piano music are included. Much of the illustrative material is filler, however, and most of the information can be found elsewhere. An "Important Dates" and a fairly useless "Key Words" list are appended to each title. While titles on van Gogh abound, precious little introduces Chopin to younger students, and this book could serve that purpose.-Anne Chapman Callaghan, Racine Public Library, WI

Kirkus Reviews

In a small and sturdy volume in the Tell Me About series, Malam briefly recounts the story of the life of Vincent van Gogh. An accessible design combines his work with photographs of important people and places in his life. While including pertinent details of van Gogh's struggle to become an artist, Malam puts mental illness in the foreground. That subject and the easy-reader format may seem at odds, but the artwork is well chosen, and nicely reproduced on durable paper. A three-entry glossary is nearly uselessnif readers don't know artist, art dealer, and gallery, how will they be able to grasp the meaning of mental illness? (chronology, index) (Biography. 5-8)