In an Artist’s Garden (Claire Orrell, Thames & Hudson)
Like all good seek-and-find books, In an Artist’s Garden is a bit addictive regardless of the reader’s age, though is perhaps best suited to a middle/upper primary audience; the objects are simple to find but the verse text holds much detail. These short verses provide tiny glimpses of the lives and inspirations of famous artists, creating concise and pleasing mini biographies. The theme of artists and their gardens helps the book hang together well, with its own consistent tone and mood, though a little more variation between pages might have added depth. Each spread introduces different colour palettes, to reflect each artist’s own garden, landscape and body of work, and the decision to keep some of these shifts very subtle means that the transitions between scenes aren’t jarring. However, there is little change in the style of the illustrations, meaning we don’t quite get a sense of how unique all these artists’ oeuvres are—for example, the Dali spread lacks his characteristic surrealism, and Hokusai’s page doesn’t really echo the traditionalism so prominent in his trademark Fujis and waves. On the other hand, representing the artists’ environments without ‘imitating’ their recognisable styles gives us an alternative entry into their work, differentiating the book from more simplistic introductions to art for children. In an Artist’s Garden should also be commended for the diversity of artists it contains, in terms of artform, nationality, gender and era, and for the artists’ quotes and slightly longer bios included as an epilogue.
Anica Boulanger-Mashberg, an editor and writer, is a bookseller at The Hobart Bookshop.
Books+Publishing pre-publication reviews are supported by the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund.
