Follow Here To Purchase A Moment With Monet


Author: Sima Levy
Illustrator: Justin Morcillo
Publisher: Mothers Art World
ISBN: 978-0-692-44684-3

“Today’s lesson is about the ‘Father of Impressionism.’ Claude Monet introduced a unique art mechanism,” Ms Simone tells her class in Sima Levy’s book, A Moment with Monet.

Part of the Meet the Artist series, this numbered forty-eight-page hardbound targets those who enjoy learning about Impressionist painting and the artist, Claude Monet. After dedication and acknowledgment pages, the tale is told in rhyming format, ending with biographies of the author and publisher.

Geared toward children, the colorful drawings by Morcillo depict middle school aged children or perhaps those attending high school art classes. The majority of the illustrations cover two-thirds of the opened pages.

In this story told in clever rhyming format, a young girl named Paris and her friends love taking art class at school. Teacher Simone is giving a lesson on Claude Monet, the father of the Impressionist movement that involves lights, darks, and shadows of colors. With the sun being his chosen element in his mostly landscape paintings, Monet was not appreciated for his talents at first.

To mimic the artist’s renditions, the class goes outside to paint, but clouds get in the sun’s way. Stopping for a break, Paris and her friends become magically transported to France and visit with the famous artist who explains his artistic theory of painting series at different times with different lighting conditions. His “Water Lily” and “Haystack” series are mentioned as he reminisces painting outdoors.

The friends also visit Monet’s garden before they return to reality. Paris chooses to paint another picture she titles “Hazy Shade of Gray” based on what she has learned from Monet.

With a total of four books to date in the series, artists Degas, Renoir, and VanGogh are also covered. Although some young children may not understand the creative concepts of painting, older ones will learn how Impressionism played a pivotal part in art history.

Creator, writer, and founder of Mothers Art World, Levy has dedicated her life teaching young children about art history at the Cohen’s Medical Center. Born in Israel, she lives in the United States with her husband and three children. No information is available on illustrator Morcillo.

Thanks to Bookpleasures and Target Marketing for furnishing this complimentary book in exchange for a review based on the reader’s honest opinions.