Picasso Biographies and Picture Books for Children

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     In many regards, Picasso is probably much more accessible to young children today than he was to previous generations. His work often reflects a fractured world, a world that is readily recognizable to all of us now that we are conditioned to accept images that reveal a personal perspective that is also universal. That being said, I have found that incorporating Picasso into art instruction (at home) was made easier by an introduction through an I Spy book. In Lucy Micklethwaite's Spot the Dog, she included a reproduction of one of Picasso's Three Musicians paintings, "the one with the dog," as my kids now say. This painting is in MoMA; the other, without the dog, is in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The dog made all the difference.  It was as if this one painting was the door through which Picasso's world could be entered.
     As for biographies and picture books, there are not that many recently published and readily available. It quickly became apparent to me that Picasso lived a very adult life, one that will not be easily translated into works for children. I found two picture books about Picasso that are nicely done: Jonah Winter's Just Behave, Pablo Picasso! and Picasso and the Girl With a Ponytail by Laurence Anholt. In Winter's book, the bright, bold illustrations match the simple text as the author relates Picasso's struggles against the art establishment to produce work he believed in. I found this book to be most useful for introducing the idea of periods in the artist's life. A short, single-page essay at the end of the book details Picasso's artistic battles, and a list of the works reproduced by the illustrator references the collections in which these work reside.
     Anholt's book is about Sylvette David (who became an artist) and the summer she sat for Picasso. The storyline is that of the young girl's growing friendship with Picasso, the revelation of why she appears to be so sad, and the gift that makes for her eventual happiness. This picture book can be used for its story alone as the main character is Sylvette, not the artist. I found this book to be very accessible for young children, but of value to anyone looking for a simple treatment in story form of Picasso's creative process. A few paragraphs at the end of the book, along with a photograph of one of the sittings (which I particularly liked) details the history behind this gentle and appealing story.
     Biographies for older children include Mike Venezia's Picasso from the "Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists" series.  This clear and simple treatment of Picasso's life (for any age, except the youngest) includes comics along with pages of photographs from Picasso's life and art, interjecting humorous notes that make the text more appealing for younger readers.  Kate Scarborough's Pablo Picasso (in the series, "Artists in Their Time"), a biography for older children, includes a timeline that runs along the bottom of the pages of text and photographs and reproductions of artworks.  This is a great book to use on its own for anyone, including an adult, who is seeking a well-written, detailed chronicle of Picasso's life and work.
     And finally, I include a book that is more difficult to classify, Antony Penrose's The Boy Who Bit Picasso.  This is more of an illustrated essay than a biography, and the emphasis is upon Penrose's own relationship, as a child, with Picasso.  The son of Lee Miller (whose photographs illustrate the book) and Roland Penrose, Penrose was in a unique position, getting to know Picasso as a friend of his parents.  The biting story is only a small part of this book and is not really the focus of the narration.  The text is charming (although I think older children might not care for it), and I particularly enjoyed the way Penrose incorporated discussion of some of Picasso's work into it.  This would be a nice addition to more linear looks at Picasso's life.

Leonardo Da Vinci

     Leonardo Da Vinci is one of the best known artists in the world, and introducing him to small children is vital to their understanding of art history. The books I examined, several of which can be used with younger children, range from simple to more complex biography, along with picture books about the story of the theft of "Mona Lisa" from the Louvre in 1911.
     Two picture books concentrate on the theft of the painting, rather than the artist and his body of work. Who Stole Mona Lisa? by Ruthie Knapp and The Mona Lisa Caper by Rick Jacobson both employ the device of having the painting tell the story in the first person. Both books are somewhat sympathetic to the thief who claimed to have stolen the painting in order to restore it to Italy, believing it to have been stolen from that country many years before. Who Stole Mona Lisa? can be read to the youngest children and The Mona Lisa Caper can either be read aloud or given to children older than eight to read on their own.
     A short biography of Da Vinci that can be used as a bridge from the picture books to the longer works is Da Vinci by Mike Venezia, part of the series, "Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists." Clear, simple text works well with reproductions of Da Vinci's art and a few comic strip illustrations.
     For upper elementary and middle grades, I found the Golden Kite Award winner Leonardo: Beautiful Dreamer by Robert Byrd (who did the wonderful illustrations for the Newbery winner Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz) to be very interesting and most successful with young readers. (A nine year old boy I know liked it very much.) The illustrations call to mind early Renaissance art, and the details of Da Vinci's life that are included work very well with information about his pursuits. While I am not always a fan of sidebars and busy pages, I thought that in this book they added to, rather than detracted from, the overall impact of the book. This book does not concentrate on either the art or the science, but provides a larger, more intricate picture of the man and his amazing mind. "The Last Supper" and "Mona Lisa" are appropriately featured and do not overwhelm the rest of the book.
    If you seek biographies for older children, I would highly recommend Diane Stanley's Leonardo Da Vinci. This ALA Notable provides the best biographical information as well as gorgeous illustrations, a pronunciation guide, historical context, and a bibliography as well as suggestions for further reading for children.