Product Description

One day a strange man arrives in Camille's town. He has a straw hat and a yellow beard. The man turns out to be the artist Vincent van Gogh. This is an introduction to the great painter, seen through the eyes of a young boy entranced by his painting. There are reproductions of Van Gogh's work.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #36014 in Books
• Published on: 2003-10-20
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 32 pages

Review
Use of a child's perspective renders the subject matter more accessible for children, helps to disguise the educational aspect of the book and brings a fresh sense of wonder to the artist. The illustrations are bright and cheerful, with a couple of repeated motifs, such as van Gogh's pipe and straw hat, to ensure the images are simple but memorable. The writing is simple and spare but with well-chosen words, which should leave children effortlessly remembering that van Gogh painted sunflowers, and that he was unappreciated in his lifetime. The themes are that of being patient, whilst not giving up, in the face of rejection and tolerance of people who are different. (Elizabeth Jones www.writeaway.org.uk )

Delightful… a most attractive introduction to the artist and his work (School Librarian )

The excellent illustrations include some of Van Gogh's own work and the picture of him in his bedroom is cleverly based on his own painting. The story includes the way he was teased and driven away for being different so it leads naturally to discussion of bullying (Books for Keeps )

About the Author
Laurence Anholt is part of a husband-and-wife team who have worked together on more than 60 picture books, published all over the world in more than 17 different languages. Their picture books – including the Chimp and Zee series – have won numerous awards and have been featured on television and radio. Laurence has been described by William Watt as one of the most versatile authors writing for children today. He was brought up mainly in Holland where he developed a lasting passion for art. He is a much sought after public speaker, appearing at conferences such as the European Council of International Schools Conference, the Northern Children's Book Festival and the Edinburgh Festival.

To visit the Anholts' website click here

Customer Reviews

A beautiful introduction to the magic & power of vanGogh
Lusciously illustrated in a "mock van Gogh" style that adds to the understanding of his paintings, this book will delight your toddler and your older child, too. Based on real events (though clearly the edited highlights) it will help your child to understand the magic of art, and not just van Gogh's. No happy endings though, this is real life. Anholt treats the delicate subject of Vincent's mental instability and the ear-mutilation episode with sensitivity, understanding and pathos. Camille, the little boy in the title, struggles to come to terms with intolerence and misunderstanding through ignorance, whilst trying to be a real friend to Vincent. It is utterly charming and I have read it and re-read to my kids - because we all like it so much! This is not Anholt's only foray into making "high-brow" subjects like fine art accessible to children. His books on Degas and Picasso are also entirely enchanting.

Fantastic for literacy and art cross-curricular links.
A lovely book with excellent illustrations encorporating Van Gough's own art work. This book gives a fictional view of Van Gough's thoughts behind some of his most beautiful work. The book comes complete with lesson ideas for year 2, although I used the book with a reception class as we were looking at Van Gough's sunflowers. It was a big hit as the children built up empathy with Van Gough and they produced brillant paintings themselves. It does not mention the ear!! and so is suitable for a primary age and is a fantastic teaching tool, and an easy to afford price!.

A great way to introduce children to art.
I think this is a wonderful way to introduce children to the paintings of Van Gogh through a gentle story of Van Gogh's time in Camille's town. All the illustrations are in a Van Gogh-esque style and the yellow fields, night sky, house and chair etc appear just in the background illustrations. In addition there are reproductions of some portraits and the famous sunflower painting. The story is quite sad as it reflects the true story where Van Gogh is not accepted by the people of the town, but his unhappiness is relatively implicit so my children (2&4) understand this as teasing rather than anything stronger, and at the end when Van Gogh leaves but they just assume he's off to paint elsewhere. If you wanted to draw out lessons on being different, talk about great masters etc. this is a very good starting point.