Linnea w ogrodzie Moneta

by Christina Björk

Linnea has visited Claude Monet's garden! In Paris, she got to see many of his actual paintings. Now she understands what it means for a painter to be called an Impressionist. This innovative art book for children contains full-color photos of many of Monet's famous paintings.

Genres: Art, Picture Books, Childrens, France, Fiction, Travel, Gardening

52 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

"I was born in 1938 in Stockholm, Sweden, and I have been living there ever since. I love this city, built on some small islands between lake Mälaren and the sea. It’s a city with lots of water and trees and a lot of nature all around it.
I lived and went to school at the island Kungsholmen, just like my good friend and illustrator Lena Anderson. But our school was so big that we never met. I was the only child and got a lot of love and attention from my parents. Every night my father told me a story he had invented, often about my teddy bear, Nalle, and my toy monkey, Jakob, who flew away on my bed-carpet during the night."
Christina Björk's books have been translated into more than 20 languages.

Reviews

[Sheri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Linnea and Mr. Bloom take a trip to Paris to see where Claude Monet lived and painted. They visit the Marmottan and view his paintings, travel onward to Giverny to see the pink house and gardens, and then back to Paris and the Orangerie for a look at the Water Lily Rooms. The story and the pictures make you want to see the lovely gardens, Japanese bridge, and lily pond for yourself. An informative biography of Monet's life and his Impressionist style of painting told in a narrative style.

[Manybooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Christina Björk's Linnea in Monet's Garden (which was originally published in Sweden in 1985 under the title of Linnea i Målarens Trädgård, with the English language translation penned in 1987 by Joan Sandin) has been on my to-read list for almost a decade, and I am happy to say that I have now remedied this shortcoming, that I have both read and yes indeed also very much enjoyed Linnea in Monet's Garden (although truth be told, I do very much wish that I were fluent in Swedish and could thus tackle Linnea in Monet's Garden in the original, or better yet, that a dual language English/Swedish edition of Linnea i Målarens Trädgård were available).

And yes, I very much do appreciate the smooth combination (the back and forth) of fiction and non-fiction in Linnea in Monet's Garden (and am actually rather surprised to have discovered quite a bit of hitherto personally unknown to me details and information regarding French Impressionist painter Claude Monet's life as an artist, including that for the 19th century, Monet definitely lived not only rather unconventionally, but also in a relationship with more than one woman simultaneously and in the same house). With Linnea's first person narrative voice shining brightly and sweetly in the fiction sections of Linnea in Monet's Garden, one can really emotionally feel and broadly smile at her effervescent joy of discovery and her constant delight as she and her elderly neighbour Mr. Bloom (who is a retired gardener) visit France to follow and explore both Claude Monet's art and his life. And while I do know and realise that there are in fact sone readers who seem to find it strange and even potentially problematic that a young girl like Linnea is allowed to travel to France without her family and even share a hotel room with an elderly gentleman who is not of her immediate family, frankly and in my opinion, there is absolutely nothing even remotely bordering on inappropriateness with and in Christina Björk's and by extension also translator Joan Landin's texts (since the joyful and engaging first person narration of Linnea in Monet's Garden really does demonstrate that Linnea's relationship with Mr. Bloom is comparable to a grandfather and granddaughter scenario, sweet, encouraging and with Mr. Bloom always acting like a treasured, understanding friend as well as a teacher). Now as to Lena Anderson's accompanying illustrations, they are bright, descriptive and totally capture not only Linnea's joy and and delightfully bubbly personality, they also present a glowing visual homage to France and to Monet's garden in Giverny (as well as depicting Mr. Bloom as being in all ways a kindly and grandfatherly soul whom I personally would definitely have wanted as a friend when I was Linnea's age). With the many reproductions of Claude Monet's signature impressionistic artwork (as well as the additional information on French and in particular Parisian museums either specialising in Claude Monet or showing the art of French Impressionism, not to mention the suggestions for additional fun and educational things to do if one visits Paris) being appreciated added bonuses, I easily and happily grant a full five stars to Linnea in Monet's Garden (and this even though I personally do wish that the short bibliographical list contained more than just five books, since well, at least Christina Björk has actually included a bibliography in Linnea in Monet's Garden and that indeed, all of the included tomes on Claude Monet's life and art do look very thorough and academically appealing to and for me).

[Darka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Моне - моя слабкість, а це дитяче видання - есенція красивих картин, дитячої наївності, рослин і чудесного Живерні, куди я мрію кудись дістатися.

[Ellinor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actually this is a very good book. It introduces kids to the world of painting and especially to Claude Monet. Everything is explained in a simple way and the pictures are lovely.
What prevented me from rating it five stars is that I remember seeing this book in a bookstore as a kid. I skimmed through it and put it away again because I didn't like it. There wasn't enough of a story in it for my taste. Of course I see that differently now. But I still think most kids would feel the same way as I did then.

[Joelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book for children but people of all ages can appreciate the beautiful artwork of Claude Monet. Linnea, a little girl, visits the home and garden of Claude Monet at Giverny, France where she learns about the artist's paintings and life. The book shows pictures of Monet's work and is a fun way for students to learn more about Impressionism and one of the most famous French artists of all time.

[Mimi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely beautifully illustrated story, touching and informative.

[Stacey D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nice introduction for kids (and adults) to the Impressionist movement. It's also a quick glimpse at legendary Claude Monet's life and dedication to his art. The lovely illustrations by Lena Anderson and reproductions of Monet's masterpieces, including "Impression, Sunrise", the water lillies series and especially the Japanese Bridge series are so special, making Linnea's journey to Paris with Mr. Bloom in search of Monet's garden really come alive. The author adds such fun little details, like the cats and dog sweethearts Cannelle and Baskerville and the black and white kitty who follows them around Giverny, plus their idyllic picnic while there. Besides learning about his art, I found the details of Monet's huge family and family life in Giverny pretty startling as well. Being a tutor, I know my young students will I love the pictures and look forward to introducing the book to them soon.

[Maureen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This charming book recounts a young girls trip to Paris and her experiences at Giverny, the home of Claude Monet. Through her eyes and voice, we learn about Monet's life, his family, his triumphs and struggles. Authentic photos of Monet, his family, and his art are embedded in the whismsical illustrations. This book in the Linea series will capture the heaets if young readers who have never heard of the impressionist masters.

[Sylvia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has been on my shelves for years. It's a children's book which I got as a present from one of my girl's parents. In the context of art education that year my school organized a project around Impressionism. My group chooses the paintings of Claude Monet, because of the waterlilies and the paintings of his garden in Giverny.
Monet has always been one of my favorite painters, so I could tell my kids a lot about his work and life. The project was supported by students of an art college and they provided lots and lots of material. The kids were encouraged to make paintings (on paper, not on canvas - expensive) in Monet's painting style. At the end of the project our school had been changed in a museum of Impressionist paintings, not only reproductions of real Impressionist art, but also the paintings of 150 kids. We opened the door for the exhibition so the parents and family could enjoy the results.

As this project was at the beginning of the schoolyear, the parents of girl I mentioned earlier decided to visit Giverny in the May Holiday. She can back with lot and lot of stories about the trip. Her parents had taken her through Paris, using this book as a guide, so she had seen all the famous paintings of Monet and visited his former home. Her parents surprised me with Ik houd van de tuin van Monet. As the project was over I thanked the parents and put the book on my shelf at home and (I must admit) forget it.

Last week I found it again, when reorganizing the books in my library. It's very quick read, but the trip of little Linea with her neighbour to Paris was a nice read.
Linea often read a book of Monet at her neighbour's - a former gardener. She is very fond of Monet's paintings of waterlilies. When she is told that the pond where Monet painted the waterlilies still exists and also the Japanese bridge, they go to Paris and Giverny to have a look themselves.


- Linea's favorite painting of the Japanese bridge

This semester my art study concentrates on Impressionisme and Expressionism, so that was one extra reason to read this book and enjoy the story. It a wonderful start for young children to get in touch with the beautiful paintings of Monet.

[JeanBookNerd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Christina Bjork’s Linnea in Monet’s Garden is the story of a small Swedish girl and her good neighbor friend, Mr. Bloom. They both share a passion for painting, particularly the kinds that Claude Monet creates. Their love of art brings these two friends together as they decide to visit Monet’s garden in Giverny. With a journey ahead of them, the book details their adventure to Paris.

This book is a good representation of Monet’s works and his method. Perhaps the most gripping part of this lovely story is that it is from a child’s point of view. I like how Christina used real settings and incorporated actual photographs of Monet which made the story that much more special. The brilliant blend of history and art with Linnea’s dream are just the perfect elements for a book that children ages 4 and up will enjoy and parents will appreciate. This lovely story of a young girl’s dream of visiting Monet’s garden is like a biography in disguise. There is a lot to learn about Monet, his works, techniques, and even his family. Linnea in Monet’s Garden is a beautiful story with stunning illustrations and a great depiction of Monet’s unique life.

[Shiloah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Crammed packed with great information, told in an interesting way. We all enjoyed this as a read-aloud.

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the kind of nonfiction that I can get behind. We recently went to Paris and I fell in love with all of the art that we saw, specifically Money. We were able to see his beautiful Lilies at the Orangerie and more of his art at Musee D'Orsay. Honestly those two places were the highlights of my trip. Sadly we could not go to Giverny because it was closed for the winter. I now want to read about his life and works. This is book I have seen around all of my life but have never picked it up. It is about a young girl who travels to Paris with a family with the sole purpose of seeing Monets home in Giverny. The illustrations of their trip that were sprinkled throughout are stunning and I learned more about his life and works. I feel that I need to see his garden and home even more now. If you are interested in Monet or set I highly recommend this very short but impactful work.

[Sanchari · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful book!

I found this on a search for more books on Monet / Impressionism after reading Rubio / Efa's graphic novel on Monet, which I loved. The Rubio / Efa book focuses on Monet's life before he settled in Giverny, and this book is about a girl called Linnea who visits Monet's garden in Giverny. The two books are very different in their approach, and both of them are very different from would be a conventional non fiction on Monet, but both the reads were extremely rewarding for me. This one ended up being a better experience because I'd just read the Rubio / Efa book, but if I had to pick one which made the most impression, this would definitely be it.

A nice coincidence: both the books have the main characters - Monet and Linnea - standing on the Japanese bridge in Giverny.

The premise is wonderful: Linnea (who's named after a flower and is interested in 'everything that grows') comes across Monet's paintings of flowers in a book. Together with her friend, Mr. Bloom (a retired gardener and her neighbour) she travels to see Monet's paintings in real life, and to actually visit his house in Giverny.

One thing that annoys me to no end is how Monet's paintings are all over the internet with different filters slapped on them. Take for example, the Impression, Sunrise - a Google search throws up different paintings with different edits, which I think is blasphemous. Which is why the thought of actually seeing his paintings in real life, to experience the colors the way Monet saw and painted them - like Linnea does, is so wonderful.

The book is an account of their trip together to the museums to see Monet's paintings, and then exploring his house in Giverny, especially the pond with the bridge and water lillies and the wisteria. At the end they meet a member of Monet's family, which is followed by a brief look at Monet's life, and his friends and family (which is superbly illustrated in the Rubio / Efa book - but this book talks a lot about his children as well).

I love certain observations Linnea makes, one of them being how Monet's Lilies look like splotches of paint up close, but from further back they have the look of an actual flower. She wonders how Monet did this - painting splotches that ended up looking like the actual object. Since I haven't been lucky enough like Linnea to see the paintings up close, I downloaded the best resolution photo of the water lilies I could find and experimented what Linnea is talking about:





(Monet's Water Lilies, 1906 - Original image from artic.edu, from which I took the zoomed in photo of a lily and made the collage).

How cool is that! Linnea was right, and I'm glad I read this book, because I wouldn't have thought about this if I hadn't.

Linnea talks about how Monet used to paint the same things again and again, each of the paintings different because the light was different each time, and this is something I've loved about Monet's paintings as well. His series of paintings of the British Houses of Parliament, for example, is stunning.

Someday, I hope to follow Linnea's footsteps and visit all the places she did. Would have loved to have a Mr. Bloom too, but if that doesn't happen, I'll gladly settle for this book in his place.

[Patricia Martins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Me lembro desse ter sido o primeiro livro que tomei emprestado na biblioteca da escola, quando tinha entre 7 e 8 anos. Fiquei encantada com as imagens, com as informações a respeito das pinturas e como eram apresentadas (por uma menininha fofa). A qualidade do livro também me chamou muita atenção (o material é incrível), até o cheiro! Esse livro tem um lugar muito especial na parte literária da minha vida.

[Amy the book-bat · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was more than I expected from a children's book. I love Monet's artwork and really enjoyed the mix of his work with that of the illustrator and photographs. I also liked the story of a girl and her friend going to Paris and visiting museums and Monet's home because of their love of his paintings. The biographical section was also interesting. I think the writing level is good for older children into middle grade. I would like to add this one to my collection.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now I want to take a trip to France just like the one Linnea experienced! This story has three strands: One addresses Monet's art, illustrating some of his paintings and introducing a few techniques he used to capture the feeling of a moment in time. Another focuses on his family -- lots of names. The third is the fictional story of a young girl who visits Paris with a retired neighbor and visits museums and, of course, Monet's home. This neighbor happens to be a male. I wasn't comfortable with the idea that a little girl would go to Paris with a man and share the room. There wasn't anything at all to suggest any inappropriate behavior, but I would have preferred having a woman in that role. I'm sure the author gave this some thought; I wonder why she decided on a male.

The art, which I love, is by Lena Anderson.

[Dolly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! I read it to myself as our girls played, but I will look for it at the library and hope to read it to them too. It's a bit long, especially if you have children with short attention spans, but it weaves a wonderful tale around an homage to the famous painter. It really makes me want to visit his home and garden.

This book was selected as one of the books for the May 2014 - Gardening discussion at the Picture-Book Club in the Children's Books Group here at Goodreads.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the combination of fiction and nonfiction as you read of Linnea's trip to see Monet's garden. It includes photographs from Monet's life, Monet's paintings, and illustrations of Linnea and her neighbor Mr. Bloom. I found the text quite interesting. My children were fascinated by page 8 and 9 where you can see what Monet's water lily looks like up close...a splotchy blob of paint...and what it looks like from a distance. While we have gone to two local art museums, they have not had the privilege yet of seeing any of Monet's work in person.

[Emilymenz · Rating 5 out of 5]

My mom gave me this book when I was 12, and ever since then I have been hooked on Impressionist art. To this day, Monet is still one of my favorite painters. I remember going to the art museum in Chicago shortly after reading this book. I was amazed that I could stand in front of his oil paintings with nothing between me and his work but air. Just looking at the cover of this book brings me back to a loving, joyful time of discovery and wonder in my life.

[Juli Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know how I missed this book as a kid when I was positively *obsessed* with Giverny. While the prose certainly isn't the most sparkling stuff, the illustrations are lovely in a traditional way, and the story of Linnea's journey is fun to read. Also, serious style kudos to Linnea in her black tee and leggings, white pinny, and straw hat--I could wear that outfit every goshdarn day.

[Lex · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this over and over when I was a kid and I hope my copy of it is somewhere in my parent's basement.

[typewriterdeluxe · Rating 2 out of 5]

The mix of nonfiction (Monet facts) and fiction (Linnea's adventure to France) could have been excellent, but unfortunately neither shines in "Linnea in Monet's Garden". Perhaps it's just a weird translation from Swedish to English, but the nonfiction sections seem jammed in and Linnea is such a painfully precocious character that she will only appeal to a specific set of readers. To me, she comes off as a a bougie Junie B. Jones wannabe written by the same people who write phony stories that kids are forced to read during American standardized tests. The story reeks of being thrown together for solely educational purposes, with little care for the reader's enjoyment. A kid just happens to have enough money in her savings to go on a multi-day trip "a long way away" (and presumably help pay for room and board) with her elderly upstairs neighbor? Linnea has no guardians to oppose or join them, apparently. Additionally, Linnea and Mr. Bloom speak perfect French and they have no problems finding anything. In fact, they conveniently get special access to a closed exhibit and meet one of Monet's great-grandchildren. Some people might say "Well, the book isn't really about those details- it's about MONET!" And that's true. True to the point that I'm not sure why anyone made up Linnea and Mr. Bloom, because this book would work much better as a straightforward nonfiction book.

Something else that rubbed me the wrong way as I read the book was the formatting of text and pictures. There are many full-page pictures and many other pictures that take up half or more of the page, reserving a narrow margin for text. I think that this imbalance of dense, small text with advanced vocabulary and large pictures with illustrations that seem to belong to a younger audience would be uncomfortable for many kid readers.

Who is the intended audience for this book? I'm not quite sure. Perhaps it's for adults who are nostalgic about reading this as a kid in 1985. Perhaps it's for adults who want to force a kid they know to read an 'educational book'. Personally, I think it belongs at the bottom of the lily pond at Monet's garden.

[Luisa Knight · Rating 3 out of 5]

Linnea loves flowers and Monet's painting of them. When her neighbor and her get to travel to Paris and see Monet's house, she's ecstatic.

Learn about Monet's paintings and his life throughout this girl's travels.

Ages: 8+

Cleanliness: it does mention that Monet had a child before getting married and that he lived with a woman before marrying her.

**Like my reviews? I also have hundreds of detailed reports that I offer too. These reports give a complete break-down of everything in the book, so you'll know just how clean it is or isn't. I also have Clean Guides (downloadable PDFs) which enable you to clean up your book before reading it!

Visit my website!

[Pfisher2 · Rating 5 out of 5]

For a real flower and garden lover the book is a delight. I felt a delight similar to that felt by Linnea. Originally published in Sweden with translation by Joan Sandin the book is illustrated with photos from Giverney and Monet's paintings. The story is further illustrated with drawings of the irrepressible Linnea. I was as intrigued as Linnea with her discovery that standing close to the lovely water lilies revealed that they are "blobs and blotches of paint". Linnea's friend, Mr. Bloom, took Linea and me on an instructional and memorable tour of Monet's work.

[Jennifer (JenIsNotaBookSnob) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked this one up without opening it, assumed it was a picture book. This is more of a short, biographical chapter book than a picture book.
This is one of those odd books that really feels like it belongs in nonfiction, but, because portions of the story are fictionalized, it ends up with the chapter books.
I paraphrased a little as my 5 year old was losing interest in the story of the girl, she just wanted more paintings.
Overall a solid choice, I can see why it is recommended often.

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the book that inspired me to go to Europe! Yep! A children's book that I happened to catch a review of in the paper. Bought it that day. Booked my trip a year later! Magical, engaging story that teaches a lot about Monet throughout it! Very good book! A must read for a young artist in your family.

[Jenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have it from high school when I was introduced to Monet and my mom bought it for me. She continues to buy kids books for me, even though I have my little people. Read it to 5 year old Lucy and a 4th grader that was visiting this summer, and they both adored it!

[SwedishGeekGirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful introduction for children to the painter Claude Monet. The book also has traveling recomendations to museums in Paris that has paintings of Monet as well information about Monet garden.
Linnea in Monet´s garden by Christina Björk get 8.5/10 stars.

[Silas · Rating 5 out of 5]

We loved this book. Now we want to go to Paris & Giverny.

[Kagama-the Literaturevixen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I both find this book good and the worst book of all time.
Have my reasons.