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A Picnic with Monet
This imaginative board book features beautiful paintings by a renowned artist paired with playful, rhyming text. In A Picnic with Monet , Claude Monet's light-filled paintings take children on an enchanted picnic in the countryside. This board book is a fun introduction ot art and an imaginative adventure all rolled into one!
22 pages, Board Book
First published July 1, 2003
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125 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
April 2, 2015
This is one book in a series that introduces children to the great art masters. It shows a few pieces (around 10) from the artist and pairs it with rhyming phrases. These books were fun to read and, obviously, great to look at. They come in board book form and are on the smaller side so they are great for little hands, but even my older children loved looking through them.
One semi-negative comment I have is that some of the phrases that accompany each painting tell the reader too much which doesn't let the reader come up with their own meaning and interpretation of the painting. This doesn't happen with each painting or in every book. Some of the phrases are more ambiguous. I guess the easy remedy for this would be to not read the text to your child and just ask questions and have discussions about each picture.
Overall, this is a great series and I highly recommend them.
One semi-negative comment I have is that some of the phrases that accompany each painting tell the reader too much which doesn't let the reader come up with their own meaning and interpretation of the painting. This doesn't happen with each painting or in every book. Some of the phrases are more ambiguous. I guess the easy remedy for this would be to not read the text to your child and just ask questions and have discussions about each picture.
Overall, this is a great series and I highly recommend them.
August 9, 2023
This was a book that I picked up from a free library and unfortunately in rather rough shape.
Anyway the book's compiler chose to make a story using the pieces of Claude Monet as illustration while writing basically a rhyming poem that explores the world through these works. As such A Picnic with Monet takes the reader from the station into the countryside where they share a nice picnic out in the garden before making their way yet home again.
Like other books that that include an author's masterpiece written into fictional format there is a small listing of the names of the pieces that were included, the year they were painted, the place where they are now displayed and the country in which they are to be discovered.
For those who love art and/or just Monet this will make for a good introductory book to the man's pieces for little ones just learning about him.
Anyway the book's compiler chose to make a story using the pieces of Claude Monet as illustration while writing basically a rhyming poem that explores the world through these works. As such A Picnic with Monet takes the reader from the station into the countryside where they share a nice picnic out in the garden before making their way yet home again.
Like other books that that include an author's masterpiece written into fictional format there is a small listing of the names of the pieces that were included, the year they were painted, the place where they are now displayed and the country in which they are to be discovered.
For those who love art and/or just Monet this will make for a good introductory book to the man's pieces for little ones just learning about him.
January 12, 2018
This book is a hodgepodge of Monet’s artwork. Along with the artwork, the authors have put them in a certain order to creat a story. It seems as if the paintings were made for the story rather than the other way around.
This is such a brilliant idea! I am a definite fan of this book! I would love to use this in the classroom if there was a time where we would be learning about specific artists and their works.
This is such a brilliant idea! I am a definite fan of this book! I would love to use this in the classroom if there was a time where we would be learning about specific artists and their works.
March 19, 2021
Monet is my favorite artist, so this was a fun way to introduce some of his most famous masterpieces to Elliot through simple rhymes that accompany the ten paintings. I also enjoy the other books in the series, including Dancing with Degas (on his ballerina series), In the Garden with Van Gogh (floral), Sharing with Renoir (people working together), and Sunday with Seurat (the original Lazy Sunday)
* library book
* introduced at 1.5 years old
* library book
* introduced at 1.5 years old
April 29, 2022
Monet is one of my favorite artists and I just wanted to see if a board book about him would actually work. The concept worked very well with text added to several paintings that formed a story. Subject matter of the paintings was relatable to children: turkeys, a bridge, a train and a rocking horse. In all ten Monet paintings are shown. There is a listing of the paintings are listed with the museum locations of the original paintings.
October 2, 2020
This imaginative board book features beautiful paintings by a renowned artist paired with playful, rhyming text. In A Picnic with Monet, Claude Monet's light-filled paintings take children on an enchanted picnic in the countryside. This board book is a fun introduction ot art and an imaginative adventure all rolled into one!
February 15, 2021
Of the four books that came in the box set, this is the kiddo's second favorite and my first. The rhyme scheme actually works, and the pieces chosen are lovely. I am particularly fond of the Gare Saint-Lazare. The images evoke a peaceful day spent in a beautiful garden, eating and reading with family.
May 6, 2021
Mommy likes the introduction to art. Nice rhyming story. The art may still be too abstract for isla. She was not interested in landscapes or still lifes. She did respond to the art that had people in it though!
December 8, 2017
I love that this book introduces young ones to classic artwork! The rhymes are not bad, although I did not like how the paintings were tied together; it felt forced and nonsensical.
May 1, 2020
A great way to introduce children to some famous art.
May 2, 2021
A board book, but shows many of Monet's paintings for kids.
December 30, 2021
Gorgeous pix
January 8, 2022
I love these art books by Julie Merberg. What a great way to introduce fine art to young children! I want to buy the whole collection.
January 8, 2022
Early exposure to art is a win.
October 20, 2024
A great way to introduce young children to the art of Monet, focus on rhyme, and just enjoy a fun filled story!!
July 27, 2025
Unironically made me “get” Monet
October 20, 2020
One of our favorites. All of the mini masters are brilliant ekphrasis poems that weave through a curation of famous paintings. Check out our blog post on a fun art activity to do with these books.
March 25, 2016
My least favorite book in the "Mini Masters' series is easily "A Picnic with Monet," but I dislike most of the titles for my kids, who have autism and need the art in their books to be easy to make out and be highly interesting.
There are a few different pictures of muted bridges that camouflage into their backgrounds, some blurry white birds with reddish heads (turkeys) in a field, white blobs (water lilies) on a pond that you can't tell is a body of water, etc. Remember this is Impressionism: the painting is supposed to be distinguishable (in its full-size) from afar--and nothing but a mess of brush strokes up-close.
My kids can't distinguish the elements of most of the images and are overall visibly bored. They won't look at this book from more than a few seconds.
There are a few different pictures of muted bridges that camouflage into their backgrounds, some blurry white birds with reddish heads (turkeys) in a field, white blobs (water lilies) on a pond that you can't tell is a body of water, etc. Remember this is Impressionism: the painting is supposed to be distinguishable (in its full-size) from afar--and nothing but a mess of brush strokes up-close.
My kids can't distinguish the elements of most of the images and are overall visibly bored. They won't look at this book from more than a few seconds.
February 7, 2017
Another gimmicky boardbook review, and yes, it features my personal favorite artist, Monet. I wonder if these books are really for me rather than my son. The Mini Masters collection has a rather ambitious idea, introducing fine art to babies, with the use of rhyming text to guide the untrained eye.
The collection used is quite genius, but I love Monet, so I'm a bit biased. The picture quality is a bit so-so, as it's difficult to see the details for some of the monochrome pieces. It is to be expected, but young children can lose interest very easily. The rhyming text is fun and helps tie the pieces together, and I found it well done. Overall, this is my favorite Mini Master book.
Rather than thinking this is just a baby book, I find this book is great for all ages.
The collection used is quite genius, but I love Monet, so I'm a bit biased. The picture quality is a bit so-so, as it's difficult to see the details for some of the monochrome pieces. It is to be expected, but young children can lose interest very easily. The rhyming text is fun and helps tie the pieces together, and I found it well done. Overall, this is my favorite Mini Master book.
Rather than thinking this is just a baby book, I find this book is great for all ages.
June 27, 2013
Monet is one of my favorite artists; I love his soft colors and peaceful moods. (Seeing an original of one of the water lilies paintings in a St. Louis museum was awesome. Close up, everything looks like smears of thick paint. But back away and look at the huge picture from a distance and the soft scene emerges.) It was a delight to find this book after a library toddler storytime with Andrea, my granddaughter. The pictures are beautiful, and the short rhymes are charming. It held a two year old’s attention; she loved the pretty colors and repeated the rhymes with me. A very fun Grandma/Kid experience.
August 10, 2008
Can't fault the art, it's a great way to introduce kids to Monet.
And the text... well, I can take it or leave it. It sounds trite to my ears, though, so I prefer to leave it.
The really bad part about these books is that they're cheaply made. I've had them fall apart on me while other books that we've had longer and that we read more often are in great shape.
You can't have a poor-quality board book, it just doesn't work.
I can't in good conscience recommend these books to anybody because of that.
And the text... well, I can take it or leave it. It sounds trite to my ears, though, so I prefer to leave it.
The really bad part about these books is that they're cheaply made. I've had them fall apart on me while other books that we've had longer and that we read more often are in great shape.
You can't have a poor-quality board book, it just doesn't work.
I can't in good conscience recommend these books to anybody because of that.
February 12, 2019
Pretty verses paired with Monet. Simple and delightful.
October 12, 2014
This one I really liked. Something about it just really fit well together. The paintings are lovely, the poem is breezy, not too forced. It is a light read that uses the illustrations to pull away from the less substantial language.
April 16, 2008
Beautiful art for little ones to enjoy!
March 9, 2009
What a fun idea. The author took classical Monet pictures and strung them together with words to make a simple children's story. A great way to introduce beautiful art to the very young.
May 12, 2009
Good exposure to paintings by Monet accompanied by a story to tie them together. Other books in the series include "Dancing with Degas".
October 23, 2012
I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11485008
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11485008
August 14, 2015
A Picnic with Monet promotes phonological awareness.
This book is also a great introduction to art, artists and different styles of painting using the works of Monet as the illustrations.
This book is also a great introduction to art, artists and different styles of painting using the works of Monet as the illustrations.
April 14, 2016
Beautiful introduction to famous art in the form of a board book.
September 15, 2016
These books actually help me appreciate artwork by finding the story in them.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews