No One Saw

by Robert Raczka

With a simple, rhyming text and beautifully reproduced paintings, No One Saw explores modern art. Each painting highlights the way in which the artist looked at the world in his or her own way. One look at the oversized details of her calla lilies convinces us hat no one saw flowers like Georgia O’Keeffe. A city becomes art when looked at by Kandinsky. And Miró shows us the flight of a bird like we’ve never seen it before. The message is a clear no two people see the world in exactly the same way. There is beauty waiting to be seen and shared by you, so be creative and, more important, be yourself!

Genres: Art, Picture Books, Childrens, Nonfiction

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Jackie Law · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brought back sweet, powerful memories of my "child's" elementary school art teacher /positive experience. I always loved learning new words like "pointilism" from this enthusiastic perspective ♥️

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

With a short, rhyming narrative and big pictures that depict artwork from sixteen different artists, this book is a great introduction to art for children.

We read through the narrative twice; the first time as we pointed out the different things we saw in the pictures, and the second time to more fully appreciate the rhyme and flow of the narrative. Some of the rhymes are a bit awkward, but at least we learned how to pronounce the name Paul Klee (klay).

Overall, we loved the collection of artwork and we really liked reading the biographical notes at the end of the book. Our girls liked talking about the different styles and techniques and our youngest told me how she would've replicated the soup cans over and over in Andy Warhol's One Hundred Cans. She gave a thumbs up when I read how he did it in his biographical note. I love that our girls are becoming very familiar with these (and other) famous images.

Read again on 15 April 2016. Even though the main narrative is a bit young for our girls, we find that the book is still a wonderful tool to help all of us recognize famous paintings, styles and artist techniques.

[Janet · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the second book by Bob Raczka that I have read and plan to read most of his. I was thrilled with the first one, but this one didn't teach me in an engaging way. It is simply one painting per page and says for example, No one saw stars like Van Gogh. Yes, I do totally understand that the eyes of each artist see the world differently, but this book didn't show or teach me anything about that idea. While this is written for children, art knows no age boundaries making this a title for all ages. The positive point of the book are the very concise--three or four sentences-about each of the selected artists.

[Shelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

No One Saw, Ordinary Things Through the Eyes of an Artist is a simple yet beautiful picture book displaying sixteen well-known paintings by sixteen renowned artists such as Vincent van Gogh, Andy Warhol, Rene Magritte and Georgia O’Keeffe. Each page focuses on the artist’s unique strengths that helped make their work stand out. The afterward portion has a brief summary about every artist’s dates of life and what style of art they were known for.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful book of well-known art, with comments by the author. Each piece illuminates the art, would be wonderful to use as a starter for an art project. For example, the book shows the art piece “A Basket of Apples” by Paul Cézanne, and Raczka writes, “No one saw apples like Paul Cézanne.” And for “One Hundred Cans” by Andy Warhol, the words are “No one saw soup like Andy Warhol.” There is a list of the paintings in the back matter and short biographies of each artist.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short and sweet, Raczka introduces many different types of artwork from many different artists and what they specialized in. There is also a section in back with short biographies on the artists. A really neat book.

[Debra · Rating 3 out of 5]

This could be an introduction to art for children or a great game of "guess the artist". As an introduction decide which picture you really like and and then look at more work by that artist.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this one!!!

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite picture book about fine art. Beautiful and sweet and imaginative.

[Jeimy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was not at all what I was expecting, but I still enjoyed it. It doesn't offer information about the painters themselves, but it can be used as a starting point for research.

[Klinton Saha · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's nothing but a picture book of famous artists.

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tribute to seeing/doing things your own way and and how our individual perspectives widely vary.

[Megan Mandl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Personal Response: As someone who loves art, I was familiar with most of the paintings and artists shown in this book. I enjoyed seeing them in a children's book and I loved the message of the book that no two people see the world in the same way. These artists all expressed what they saw in completely different ways. Even though children are not yet able to analyze and understand these paintings, it is beneficial to expose them to these famous paintings early.

Purposes:
- ages 6- 9
Read Aloud for Enrichment:
- exposes children to fine art. If they look through the book a lot, they may recognize some of the paintings later in life
- brings culture to the classroom in a way that students can understand
Read Aloud for Curricular Purposes:
- could lead to an activity where everyone draws or paints a picture of the same object. Students can then share their creations with the class to see the similarities and differences
Individual Reading:
- could be beneficial for a child who has trouble seeing things from another person's point of view. This book could show him that no two people see things the same way and that is what makes life interesting and beautiful
Other:
- emphasizes the importance of creativity and individuality

[Brooke Holthe · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Artist express their own point of view. And nobody sees the world like you." This book points out how nobody sees things the same way and how each artist has seen and created things in a unique way.

This book has little words and describes what the author was painting in a kid friendly way. "No one saw stars like Vincent van Gogh". To students this may just be a piece of art and they probably have questions about what this picture means or think it is just the sky. I love the fact that there is a list of biographies on the artist so that more can be learned about who created these wonderful pieces of art work. I can see a child being interested in this book from the start of the amazing and interesting cover to the train, city, and more.

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely gift from M. Shelden.

Inside Cover:
With a simple, rhyming text and beautifully reproduced paintings, NOS explores modern art. Each painting highlights the way in which the artist looked at the world in his or her own way. One look at the oversized details of her calla lilies convinces us that no one saw flowers like Georgia O'Keefe. A city becomes art when looked at by Kandinsky. And Miro shows us the flight of a bird like we've never seen before. The message is a clear one: no two people see the world in exactly the same way. There is beauty waiting to be seen and shared by you, so be creative and more important, be yourself!

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A simple yet effective introduction to various artists emphasizing the special way they saw regular things like hay and cities and apples. Each image could easily stir up discussions and encourage children to attempt a variety of styles as well as explore how they see the world. A helpful list of paintings and biographical notes are in the back.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Great examples of some the more popular artists, but I like how there is a bit of narrative and the art is of course great. It's also nice how there is a bit of a biography of the artists at the end. Besides seeing one of their art pieces you get to learn more about them. Great to have in any classroom or at home.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

American Gothic is actually is actually a painting of a farmer and his daughter, not his wife. I learned this from the artist bios in the back of this book.

This is a nice introduction to art. And a great thought that none of us sees the world in exactly the same way.

[Torrance Public Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

Are an artists eyes different? How do they see the world that allows these great works to emerge? Explore how to see through an artist's eyes and find your own vision in the ordinary world.

[Becky Byrum · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely little book to introduce children to art.

[Rosanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this because it exposes children to a wide variety of art, and it encourages them to be an artist with their own point of view.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love that it introduced artists in a light hearted manor for my 6 yr old. She enjoyed the pictures, but really got excited when I said, "I've been to Claude Monets home."

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book to talk about perspective and how we see the world.

[Sue Mosher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Famous artists who saw things differently than other people. Simple text for young readers.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

There isn't a whole lot to this book but we enjoyed flipping through the pictures.

[Daniel Franklin]

this book could be great for any grade to introduce are and introduce famous artists

the illustratiings in this book are famous pieces of artwork.