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Katie
Katie Meets the Impressionists
Katie's trip to the museum to see Impressionist art leads to a magical journey through the actual paintings. In paperback for the first time.
"This British import pays joyful homage to the world of the Impressionists. When Katie and her grandmother visit an art museum to celebrate the elder's birthday, the girl wanders into a gallery where she admires Claude Monet's The Luncheon.... With a blink of her eyes, Katie is magically transported into the painting... Lovely watercolors emulate the style of the Impressionists... Not only does this delightful fantasy succeed as art education, but it's a charming story as well." --School Library Journal
"This British import pays joyful homage to the world of the Impressionists. When Katie and her grandmother visit an art museum to celebrate the elder's birthday, the girl wanders into a gallery where she admires Claude Monet's The Luncheon.... With a blink of her eyes, Katie is magically transported into the painting... Lovely watercolors emulate the style of the Impressionists... Not only does this delightful fantasy succeed as art education, but it's a charming story as well." --School Library Journal
32 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
7 people are currently reading
496 people want to read
About the author
James Mayhew
137 books87 followersJames Mayhew's first book for children was Katie's Pictures Show, (Orchard Books 1989) establishing the long running series about a child's adventures in an art gallery. Many of his books have a cultural agenda and James is passionate about introducing children to art, music, opera, ballet and traditional tales.
He has published over 60 books, and illustrated and written for many other colleagues including Philippa Pearce, Martin Waddell and Jackie Morris.
As a storyteller he has devised and performed a series of sell-out concerts for children with the de Havilland Philharmonic Orchestra, and has participated in prom performances at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
He has also created designs and illustrations for the Kirov Mariinsky Opera of St Petersburg and in 1994 won the New York Times award for one of the ten best illustrated books on the year (The Boy and The Cloth of Dreams).
He has made regular appearances at the National Galleries in Edinburgh and London and visits many schools, and arts and literary festivals.
James is a member of the Art Worker's Guild and the Society of Authors.
He has published over 60 books, and illustrated and written for many other colleagues including Philippa Pearce, Martin Waddell and Jackie Morris.
As a storyteller he has devised and performed a series of sell-out concerts for children with the de Havilland Philharmonic Orchestra, and has participated in prom performances at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
He has also created designs and illustrations for the Kirov Mariinsky Opera of St Petersburg and in 1994 won the New York Times award for one of the ten best illustrated books on the year (The Boy and The Cloth of Dreams).
He has made regular appearances at the National Galleries in Edinburgh and London and visits many schools, and arts and literary festivals.
James is a member of the Art Worker's Guild and the Society of Authors.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 77 reviews
October 30, 2022
What a great idea for a story!
Katie Meets the Impressionists begins:
“It was Grandma’s birthday and for a special treat she had taken Katie to the art gallery. Katie loved the gallery because you never knew what you were going to see there.”
Little kids love Art galleries. They don’t have any problems about knowing what they like, or whether they understand something, or whether it is technically proficient. They just react! We too still do that at some level, but we lose that spontaneity when we get older. Along with gaining our specialist knowledge and expertise, we have lost some of the magic.
So imagine if, when we have come into the gallery away from the noise of some dull, grimy city in winter, we find ourselves face to face with a huge painting like this:
The Luncheon - Monet’s Garden at Argenteuil - Claude Monet 1873
At once we can breathe once more. Our racing heart rate slows, and we relax. We feel ourselves drawn to the picture. If we were just a little younger, it would be real, like it is for Katie.
Katie’s grandma tells Katie that if she stands back, all the blobs she can see make a picture - and to Katie’s great delight, they do! She moves to another, and sees a beautiful garden with daisies, hollyhocks, roses and sunflowers. Katie thinks how lovely the flowers are, and how much she would like to pick a bunch to give to her grandma. She is sure she can even smell the flowers, and closes her eyes … to find she has been magically transported into the world inside the painting.
Katie does pick some poppies for her grandma, and as the story continues Katie finds herself in various other paintings, once with a little boy Jean, who is the painter’s son, and then with other people in the paintings. But a swarm of bees want her flowers, so she has to throw them away. Now she has no flowers, so Katie looks for another picture, and finds herself in a theatre. Not only that, but she has an exciting time dancing in a ballet. The audience love her strange dancing, and so many people throw flowers on to the stage, that Katie can collect a lovely bouquet for her grandma after all. And when she runs up to give the flowers to her Grandma, her grandma is so surprised and pleased.
The storyline is interesting, but the main attraction of this story is the imaginative art work. We see the settings and characters we know from these paintings, and how Katie interacts with them. It is such a great way of introducing great Art works to children, and after reading this book, I’m sure any child would want to try creating an impressionist painting for themselves.
Here are the paintings which feature in Katie Meets the Impressionists:
The Luncheon by Claude Monet
The Field With Poppies by Claude Monet
A Girl With a Watering Can by Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Her First Evening Out by Pierre-Auguste Renoir
The Blue Dancers by Edgar Degas
The talented James Mayhew has written 14 books about Katie so far, and in quite a few of them she is exploring various works of Art. Of this one, Junior Education has said “Exuberant illustrations and a fun approach to looking at paintings.” I bought this one for my little cousin, who has just started Junior school, but to be honest, it’s quite hard to let it go!
The Field With Poppies - Claude Monet 1873
Katie Meets the Impressionists begins:
“It was Grandma’s birthday and for a special treat she had taken Katie to the art gallery. Katie loved the gallery because you never knew what you were going to see there.”
Little kids love Art galleries. They don’t have any problems about knowing what they like, or whether they understand something, or whether it is technically proficient. They just react! We too still do that at some level, but we lose that spontaneity when we get older. Along with gaining our specialist knowledge and expertise, we have lost some of the magic.
So imagine if, when we have come into the gallery away from the noise of some dull, grimy city in winter, we find ourselves face to face with a huge painting like this:
The Luncheon - Monet’s Garden at Argenteuil - Claude Monet 1873
At once we can breathe once more. Our racing heart rate slows, and we relax. We feel ourselves drawn to the picture. If we were just a little younger, it would be real, like it is for Katie.
Katie’s grandma tells Katie that if she stands back, all the blobs she can see make a picture - and to Katie’s great delight, they do! She moves to another, and sees a beautiful garden with daisies, hollyhocks, roses and sunflowers. Katie thinks how lovely the flowers are, and how much she would like to pick a bunch to give to her grandma. She is sure she can even smell the flowers, and closes her eyes … to find she has been magically transported into the world inside the painting.
Katie does pick some poppies for her grandma, and as the story continues Katie finds herself in various other paintings, once with a little boy Jean, who is the painter’s son, and then with other people in the paintings. But a swarm of bees want her flowers, so she has to throw them away. Now she has no flowers, so Katie looks for another picture, and finds herself in a theatre. Not only that, but she has an exciting time dancing in a ballet. The audience love her strange dancing, and so many people throw flowers on to the stage, that Katie can collect a lovely bouquet for her grandma after all. And when she runs up to give the flowers to her Grandma, her grandma is so surprised and pleased.
The storyline is interesting, but the main attraction of this story is the imaginative art work. We see the settings and characters we know from these paintings, and how Katie interacts with them. It is such a great way of introducing great Art works to children, and after reading this book, I’m sure any child would want to try creating an impressionist painting for themselves.
Here are the paintings which feature in Katie Meets the Impressionists:
The Luncheon by Claude Monet
The Field With Poppies by Claude Monet
A Girl With a Watering Can by Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Her First Evening Out by Pierre-Auguste Renoir
The Blue Dancers by Edgar Degas
The talented James Mayhew has written 14 books about Katie so far, and in quite a few of them she is exploring various works of Art. Of this one, Junior Education has said “Exuberant illustrations and a fun approach to looking at paintings.” I bought this one for my little cousin, who has just started Junior school, but to be honest, it’s quite hard to let it go!
The Field With Poppies - Claude Monet 1873
December 21, 2017
This is such a gorgeous little book and Katie has a wonderful imagination!
November 4, 2023
This book has been haunting me for the past 25 years! In my first year of primary school our teacher read this book to us at the end of the day. However the bell rang before she got to the end and she never returned to it. For over twenty years on and off I’ve often wondered what happened next, however I had no idea what the title of the book was. What I did remember though was a character that jumped through pictures (which writing this now isn’t so dissimilar an idea to Jasper Fforde’s Tuesday character- maybe that’s why I like those books too!) For a long time I tried to persuade my parents to take me to art galleries so I too could go through some pictures into the lane beyond it (that is of course when I wasn’t sitting in wardrobes waiting for Narnia, armed with snacks so I couldn’t be tempted by Turkish delight when I got there- I was an imaginative child who failed to draw a line where reality ended!) After some Googling I stumbled across the book and wondered if it was it AND IT IS! So this was very exciting to read again and make it to the end this time. It is just as good as I remember it and quite possibly is the book responsible for why I also like art. I feel a bit like Katie when she leaves the final painting with a bouquet of flowers- mission accomplished!
November 27, 2009
I have always loved Impressionist art and I like the way that this book introduces Impressionist art to children. The story is creative and interesting, and yet the art is also focused on. It's a fun story to read aloud and it opens up avenues for discussions about getting "lost" in a painting and where you could go...
I read this book again during my visit to the Musee d'Orsay in Paris in March 2013.
I read this book again during my visit to the Musee d'Orsay in Paris in March 2013.
August 6, 2013
I love this story. Katie visits and art museum and travels in and out of paintings to find flowers for her Grandmother. I love the idea of going inside a painting - it captures one's imagination while teaching about art.
October 4, 2019
Katie jumps from frame to frame in the museum to find flowers for her granny. Such a darling book full of imagination and appreciation of art.
July 26, 2023
A very beautiful story time read. I love the illustrations come to life, especially the blue dancers (ballet).
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September 6, 2010
We love the Katie books! They are a wonderful introduction to the world of art. I highly recommend them to anyone who loves art and wants to teach a love of art to their young children.
March 20, 2017
Read 7/27/15.
This is another author we love to read. His art books are wonderful to read over and over..krb 3/20/17
This is another author we love to read. His art books are wonderful to read over and over..krb 3/20/17
April 6, 2019
Same old story, but great choices in terms of paintings.
July 7, 2022
I just loved how she went into different places. I just liked it. I don’t recommend other people read it. I just think that story will be fun for me. (R, age 5)
May 8, 2021
Title: Katie Meets the Impressionists
Author & Illustrator: James Mayhew
Genre: Picture Book, Fiction, Art
Theme(s): Art
Opening line/sentence: It was Grandma’s birthday and for a special treat she had taken Katie to the art gallery. Katie loved the gallery because you never knew what you were going to see there.
Brief Book Summary: Katie and her Grandma go to the art gallery for her grandma’s birthday. When looking at one of the paintings Katie is magically transported into the world inside the painting. In one of the paintings, she finds a bouquet but, when she leaves the painting they wilt, so she keeps going into paintings until she gets a bouquet for her Grandma.
Tell Me Framework:
Like(s): I like how the book explores many famous impressionist paintings and presents them in a way that is interesting to the child and adds a bit of magic to the plot of the story.
Dislike(s): It would have been nice if the book discussed more impressionist techniques and what exactly is impressionism.
Pattern(s): I did not notice any patterns in this book.
Puzzle(s): When visiting the many paintings did the author take a creative license on what the people in the painting would be like or did the author base their personalities on what the artist intended for that person’s personality?
Consideration of Instructional Application: This book is a great introduction to the art and more specifically impressionism. After reading this book you could have a lesson on many of the impressionist artists and their paintings. Then you could have the children try a simple painting of their own using the techniques and stylings of an Impressionist.
Author & Illustrator: James Mayhew
Genre: Picture Book, Fiction, Art
Theme(s): Art
Opening line/sentence: It was Grandma’s birthday and for a special treat she had taken Katie to the art gallery. Katie loved the gallery because you never knew what you were going to see there.
Brief Book Summary: Katie and her Grandma go to the art gallery for her grandma’s birthday. When looking at one of the paintings Katie is magically transported into the world inside the painting. In one of the paintings, she finds a bouquet but, when she leaves the painting they wilt, so she keeps going into paintings until she gets a bouquet for her Grandma.
Tell Me Framework:
Like(s): I like how the book explores many famous impressionist paintings and presents them in a way that is interesting to the child and adds a bit of magic to the plot of the story.
Dislike(s): It would have been nice if the book discussed more impressionist techniques and what exactly is impressionism.
Pattern(s): I did not notice any patterns in this book.
Puzzle(s): When visiting the many paintings did the author take a creative license on what the people in the painting would be like or did the author base their personalities on what the artist intended for that person’s personality?
Consideration of Instructional Application: This book is a great introduction to the art and more specifically impressionism. After reading this book you could have a lesson on many of the impressionist artists and their paintings. Then you could have the children try a simple painting of their own using the techniques and stylings of an Impressionist.
June 15, 2020
"'The pictures are made up of blobs, but when you stand back, the blobs make a picture,' said Grandma."
.
This Katie series follows Katie who often frequents art galleries with her grandma. While Grandma snoozes, Katie will go on an imaginative adventure getting into famous paintings, visiting the places and meeting the people in the paintings. Written for the youngest audience, it does not lecture on facts about art. Instead, it simply offers a glimpse of art styles, the titles and the artists. It's great introduction to art appreciation. This one in the series, Katie and the Impressionists, takes us to see 'The Luncheon' and 'Wild Poppies' by Claude Monet, 'A Girl with a Watering Can' and 'At the Theatre' by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and 'Dancers in Blue' by Edgar Degas. Katie went through some interesting encounters while trying to pick some flowers from the paintings to give to Grandma for her birthday. The illustration is a visual delight in itself! I enjoy looking at them, and learn to appreciate art, too.
.
After reading the book, I invited my daughter to try to re-create the landscape in the Wild Poppies by making green and red blobs on a piece of paper 😄 It was fun and reinforced what the book says about Impressionists style, that blobs make a picture.
More picture book reviews at IG @booksandblocks.id
.
This Katie series follows Katie who often frequents art galleries with her grandma. While Grandma snoozes, Katie will go on an imaginative adventure getting into famous paintings, visiting the places and meeting the people in the paintings. Written for the youngest audience, it does not lecture on facts about art. Instead, it simply offers a glimpse of art styles, the titles and the artists. It's great introduction to art appreciation. This one in the series, Katie and the Impressionists, takes us to see 'The Luncheon' and 'Wild Poppies' by Claude Monet, 'A Girl with a Watering Can' and 'At the Theatre' by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and 'Dancers in Blue' by Edgar Degas. Katie went through some interesting encounters while trying to pick some flowers from the paintings to give to Grandma for her birthday. The illustration is a visual delight in itself! I enjoy looking at them, and learn to appreciate art, too.
.
After reading the book, I invited my daughter to try to re-create the landscape in the Wild Poppies by making green and red blobs on a piece of paper 😄 It was fun and reinforced what the book says about Impressionists style, that blobs make a picture.
More picture book reviews at IG @booksandblocks.id
July 1, 2018
I am just falling in love with these books. Katie is again in the museum with Grandma - that part just thrills my soul. I love the way Katie wanders the museum alone, something that probably wouldn't happen in any museum I have attended. Katie learns that you need to step back to see the blobs of color come together to form the picture. As she looks at The Luncheon by Claude Monet, she is sure that she can smell the flowers. Wouldn't it be wonderful to gather a bouquet for Grandma on her birthday? When she opened her eyes, she was in the painting talking to a little boy named Jean and being lead on a tour. On her search for water for her drooping bouquet she meets Renoir's Girl with a Watering Can and starts on a merry chase after her but loses the flowers. As she searches more pictures she sees a Field of Poppies and recognizes Jean walking with a woman. After gathering a bouquet of poppies she is chased by a swarm of bees which follow her outside the picture frame and into the museum. Ever resourceful she sends them out a window. On goes the adventure through several more paintings and back to Grandma with a full bouquet of flowers.
Now I will sit down and enjoy this book one more time.
Now I will sit down and enjoy this book one more time.
March 13, 2024
This beautiful picture book is a great read for children who are in elementary school. It is about a girl who takes a trip to the art gallery with her grandmother and finds herself jumping into different paintings. Besides being immersive and imaginative, it was also informative. The author used real paintings in the story. This is a great way to teach kids about real artists and their work, and really bring them to life by having the main character interact with the people and places in the paintings. The pictures themselves were beautiful and reminiscent of the actual paintings. It may be a bit long, especially for little kids, but the pictures and the story of a girl's vivid imagination would probably still keep their attention. This would be a good book to keep on the bookshelf in a classroom for children in maybe 2nd-5th grade.
November 12, 2022
This was a fun introduction to Impressionist artwork, which I read with my toddler. I haven't read any of the rest of the series and I'm not sure where this fits with the others, but I was surprised to find little Katie suddenly inside one of the artworks at the art gallery, and then stepping in and out of them with abandon, in an attempt to get her grandmother some birthday flowers.
She has some fun adventures with Jamie, the son of Monet, and gets chased a few times for being in the wrong place at the wrong time and up to mischief, while also being feted for her unusual but spectacular dancing.
Expect to see some Monet, Renoir, and Degas.
Beautiful illustrations and a fun little story.
She has some fun adventures with Jamie, the son of Monet, and gets chased a few times for being in the wrong place at the wrong time and up to mischief, while also being feted for her unusual but spectacular dancing.
Expect to see some Monet, Renoir, and Degas.
Beautiful illustrations and a fun little story.
October 2, 2020
Katie's trip to the museum to see Impressionist art leads to a magical journey through the actual paintings. In paperback for the first time.
"This British import pays joyful homage to the world of the Impressionists. When Katie and her grandmother visit an art museum to celebrate the elder's birthday, the girl wanders into a gallery where she admires Claude Monet's The Luncheon.... With a blink of her eyes, Katie is magically transported into the painting... Lovely watercolors emulate the style of the Impressionists... Not only does this delightful fantasy succeed as art education, but it's a charming story as well." --School Library Journal
"This British import pays joyful homage to the world of the Impressionists. When Katie and her grandmother visit an art museum to celebrate the elder's birthday, the girl wanders into a gallery where she admires Claude Monet's The Luncheon.... With a blink of her eyes, Katie is magically transported into the painting... Lovely watercolors emulate the style of the Impressionists... Not only does this delightful fantasy succeed as art education, but it's a charming story as well." --School Library Journal
August 12, 2019
Read this and the Sunday Afternoon and Mona Lisa ones around the same time. Liked this one the best. It was very interesting learning about the paintings made with millions of dots that form a picture when seen from a distance. I also liked that in this story Katie had a purpose and was trying to save the flowers from wilting as she traveled from painting to painting so she could give them to her grandmother.
September 28, 2020
As part of our World Studies unit on France we also looked at Monet and the Impressionists. This is a lovely look (through a magical realism art gallery visit by a little girl) at Monet, Renoir, and Degas.
Miss 6 and I like to explore different books and authors at the library, sometimes around particular topics or themes. We try to get different ones out every week or so; it's fun for both of us to have the variety and to look at a mix of new & favourite authors.
Miss 6 and I like to explore different books and authors at the library, sometimes around particular topics or themes. We try to get different ones out every week or so; it's fun for both of us to have the variety and to look at a mix of new & favourite authors.
November 24, 2023
The storyline was weak (for me), but did the trick.
**HEAVY, RAPT BREATHING** from small audience. Could just see the wheels turning: Did she really go inside a painting?! Can I do that?
A trip to the Art Gallery has been requested. On one hand, mission accomplished. On the other, I'm not entirely sure we won't end up in the news with a headline like, "Small Child Pulls Priceless Monet from Gallery Wall and Puts Foot Through Canvas": 'I was trying to go into the picture', says tot.
**HEAVY, RAPT BREATHING** from small audience. Could just see the wheels turning: Did she really go inside a painting?! Can I do that?
A trip to the Art Gallery has been requested. On one hand, mission accomplished. On the other, I'm not entirely sure we won't end up in the news with a headline like, "Small Child Pulls Priceless Monet from Gallery Wall and Puts Foot Through Canvas": 'I was trying to go into the picture', says tot.
November 1, 2018
I read this book with my class and focused on turning it into a play script (year3) during world book week. It was a brilliant way to introduce children to the impressionists (my favourite style of art) and they all remembered which artist was which. I loved using this as a resource and would urge other teachers to do so as well! 💛
May 18, 2019
I read a review that says "Child wanders off and touches/climbs into paintings. Child removes flowers from paintings." It's not a particularly good story, there is no moral or lesson. The book shows famous paintings, but doesn't give any information about impressionism or the artists. If I can't find other books this one might be ok.
June 28, 2020
A cool children's book (my first introduction to the character of Katie) who goes to a museum and finds herself entering different Impressionist paintings and interacting with the characters. A great way for parents to teach their kids about a little section of art history and perhaps learn a few things themselves.
March 1, 2019
The Impressionist have left their mark and Katie is back at the art gallery to discover them.
I will have a chance to see almost all of the pieces highlighted by visiting the National Gallery of London and the Orsay in Paris.
Monet, Renoir and Degas are the artist highlighted.
I will have a chance to see almost all of the pieces highlighted by visiting the National Gallery of London and the Orsay in Paris.
Monet, Renoir and Degas are the artist highlighted.
June 26, 2019
These books are great for introducing readers to art! After reading the third one my girls were giggling about how grandma always needs a nap at the art gallery and anticipating Katie's next art adventure.
January 15, 2018
Similar to Katie and the Mona Lisa.
August 3, 2018
Child wanders off and touches/climbs into paintings. Child removes flowers from paintings.
January 5, 2019
It's not my favorite way but it is a way to introduce children to famous painting and painters.
May 5, 2019
Great way of introducing famous paintings and painters to kids
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January 24, 2020Lovely.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 77 reviews