A Blue Butterfly: A Story About Claude Monet

by Bijou Le Tord

In a garden of spectacular beauty in Giverny, France, Claude Monet painted flowers. Dazzled by the light, he painted with rich colors of vermilion, emerald, and violet. His poppies, tulips, irises, and waterlilies have awed the world. In her radiant watercolors, Bijou Le Tord uses Monet's own palette of only eight colors. Her magnificent paintings and poetic words celebrate the extraordinary vision of the beloved impressionist painter, Claude Monet.

Genres: Art, Picture Books, Childrens, Biography

32 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1995

Reviews

[Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Blue Butterfly is a beautiful picturebook about the artist Claude Monet and his colorful paintings. It is heavily reliant on the pictures to tell the story of how Monet paints beautiful masterpieces in any scenario. It has simple words that flow with the pictures and fit the adorable depictions of Monet. The illustrations are stunning and cute, matching the style of Monet's real life work.
This book is a partial biography because it only really depicts one small portion of the painter's life (his life as an artist). It is worth reading about because he was such an influential impressionistic painter, even if it does not have good historical context or facts. It teaches a young reader bout a famous artis while not beeping too fact heavy and still keeping their attention. It teaches lessons about perseverance and the importance of creativity, giving children a role model to follow in Monet. The photos in this book are perfect because they represent Monet's style, and they are breathtakingly beautiful as well.

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another one of those difficult to classify: what category does this title belong to. With the appearance of a picture book, one is given a very minimal amount of info regarding Monet. The very sparse text is done vertically along the side of the left side illustrations--different. from the author/illustrator info I did learn that Monet worked in eight colors and hence so did the illustrator. In the text I learned that he sometimes worked on a boat that he used for a studio. I have always just immersed myself in his paintings and don't think about the details of his life.

[Teri · Rating 2 out of 5]

Art in style of Claude Monet. It would be better if it were his actual painting.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful illustrations. Not many words.

[Allie Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

"A Blue Butterfly" is a beautiful short storybook about Monet and his life as an artist. In the story, Monet travels all around painting outdoors. Monet sees the beauty of nature. He paints flowers like they are jewels, paints in the snow, paints in a storm by the ocean, and many more sceneries. This book does not have many words, as the focus is more so on the absolutely stunning illustrations. This books amazing pictures can easily keep young readers engaged. This would be a great book to use in the classroom when teaching students about visual arts, art history or the importance of personal creativity.

[ashleigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute little book about Claude Monet! Really loved the art inside to!

[Jenncw · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lovely illustrations.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poetic language describing Monet's painting style and inspiration. The illustrator used the same limited palette as Monet himself.

[Jackie Law · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Monet painted as a bird sings, for himself."

"He painted, dazzled by the light he held on his brush, just for an instant, like a blue butterfly 🦋

[Jessica Mchale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful book

[Heather]

I read this to N and L. The pictures were lovely and done as an impression of Monet’s works.
After the book we watched a YouTube video on Monet’s most famous paintings.

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Perhaps, I owe it to flowers to be a painter."
-Claude Monet, French painter, 1840-1926

Bijou Le Tord uses Monet's own palette of only eight colors to create beautiful versions of Monet’s work. I think this is a wonderful book for a child learning about art and light and color and I think this is a wonderful book to add to a Monet lovers collection.

[Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful picture book good for introducing Monet to young children.