If da Vinci Painted a Dinosaur by Amy Newbold - ADVISABLE

If da Vinci Painted a Dinosaur by Amy Newbold, illustrated by Greg Newbold. PICTURE BOOK. Tilbury House Publishers, 2018. $18. 9780884486671

BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) - ADVISABLE 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH

A little hamster takes us on a visual journey of the styles of different artists by showing the reader what the paintings would look like if they had dinosaurs in them. The hamster looks right out at the reader and names the artist and then the bulk of the page is an illustration of dinosaurs in different styles. Some of the artists represented are Degas, Coolidge, Kahlo, and Matisse. 

This is a great book for the art room or for any readers interested in art history. I couldn’t really get over how cutesy the hamster was juxtaposed to the beautiful artwork. The dinosaurs in the illustrations are silly, but the art still feels sophisticated somehow. The text is only average, leaving the art work to do the heavy lifting in this book. Also, I feel like female artist where underrepresented, although that might be histories fault more than than this book specifically. 

Jen Wecker, HS English Teacher