Carolyn Bracken

As an art lover who takes her kids regularly to our local art galleries this book has made my MUST HAVE list. The story is really cute and told well so that it captured my daughters’ attention. They loved that it was full of animal being depicted in positions and actions normally reserved for humans. What really made this stand out is how the author uses well-known pieces of work depicted throughout her museum only animals are in the place of humans. It’s an absolutely indigenous way to show more introduce art to the young to peak their interest then show them the real pieces the book is based upon. At the end of the story you are treated to a small history lesson of each of the pieces which includes the real title, artist and time period. This was such an imaginative and unique work, it inspired my daughters to want to create their own version of popular pieces for a summer project. show less

A fairly good mimic of the art and tone of the original Eloise books, this picture book tells a slight story of Eloise shopping for Christmas presents and getting into a little mischief along the way.

The flaps for the lift-the-flaps function are enormous by the way, effectively acting as a page turn within each page, telling more of the story -- showing the outcome of Eloise's mischief usually -- rather than exposing a little element as other lift-the-flap books tend to do.

My wife and show more daughter have always liked Eloise more than I, so I think they got more out of this.

FOR REFERENCE:

Rated "Indifferent" in our old book database by Rod; rated "Good" by Adelia. show less

A board book as big as Clifford! But apparently size doesn't matter, as the flaps and matching games made for a tepid experience.

Reviewing an ARC (Advanced Review Copy) about Mr. Owliver's job as a nightwatchman for Animaltown Art Museum was just fun...fun...fun.

I immediately fell in love with it. The concept is adorable! The writing is sweet and the watercolor style illustrations are delightfully hilarious and at the same time very intricate. I love the museum crew. In all honesty, I wanted to spend more time at the museum and view more original paintings being reworked and I'm sure children will feel the same way show more too.

At 40 pages, it is a good length for this type of childrens picture book. It will be a must read for story time as kids can sit back and and watch as Mr. Owliver walks throughout the museum. But, be advised you may hear an abundance of laughter.

This book will also be excellent for classroom discussions on the various masterpieces. The back of the book does provide the necessary details on the original works of art. I highly recommend this book. I reviewed ARC for Net Galley. show less