Chasing Degas

by Eva Montanari

Monsieur Degas likes to paint the students while they practice in ballet class—they’ve inspired many of his beautiful paintings. But one day he mistakenly leaves his bag of paints in the dance studio and instead takes a young ballerina’s bag, which contains her new tutu for the evening’s recital! And so the ballerina begins a great chase to find Degas before her big night.
 
As she searches the streets of Paris, the ballerina encounters many other Impressionist painters, who are in the process of painting some of their great works. Monet, Renoir, Caillebotte, and Cassatt help the ballerina until she is reunited, at last, with Degas.
 
Featuring the original Impressionist paintings that inspired this picture book of historical fiction, along with an author’s note about Impressionism and this vibrant period in Paris, Chasing Degas will delight young lovers of art and ballet.

Genres: Picture Books, Art, Childrens, France, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Juvenile

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Calista · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is brought to life inspired by several French Impressionist artists. We get to meet many of them. The ballerina from the famous Degas painting got her bag switched with Degas and she has his paints and he her tutu. She chases after him, always behind where he was.

We meet Monet, Caillebotte, Renoir and May Cassatt. It’s a great story that weaves these people together doing what they do. They were in the middle of Paris life. It’s a nice set up for an introduction into the impressionist artists of the time.

I love the artwork and seeing the people actually painting. Caillebotte actually painted before a rain and he tried to finish before it really started. This really brought the reader into the famous painting scenes and she puts all the 6 paintings this story is taken from in the back of the book for the young to be exposed too.

The niece loved the subject of dancing. She gave this 5 stars. The nephew thought this was ok, but not funny so he gave this 3 stars.

[Manybooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fictitious account of a young ballet dancer running through Paris on the trail of Impressionist painter Edgar Degas (because he has accidentally taken the bag with her tutu and she has accidentally taken the bag with his paints), Chasing Degas provides a simple but generally delightful and informative picture book introduction to French Impressionism and to some of the movement's most famous artists.

But albeit that Chasing Degas is simple enough for children as young as four or five, slightly older children will likely appreciate and enjoy not only the story, Eva Montanari's presented narrative, but also the informative supplemental author's notes. And although Chasing Degas also to a certain extent features dancing, particularly ballet, the main themes of this enchanting little story are of course French Impressionism and how the little ballet dancer on her romp through Paris, meets not only Claude Monet, but actually a goodly number of Impressionist artists before finally locating Degas and retrieving her tutu (and of course also returning his paints to him).

Now finally, as for the accompanying illustrations (also by Eva Montanari, who acts as both author and illustrator in Chasing Degas), although I would not necessarily call them personal favourites, they do in fact and indeed sweetly compliment the narrative and actually feel somewhat impressionistic in their composition and execution (which gives readers a palpable feeling of authenticity, of time and place). Highly recommended and fun!

[Kristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before picking up this picture book I knew nothing about but I was so pleasantly surprised!

A lot of the pictures in it are actually real paintings by famous 19th century artists - like Monet, Renoir and Degas - and the author has built a story around them! I think this is so original and imaginative!

[Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance · Rating 5 out of 5]

A little ballerina accidentally exchanges her bag of dancing clothes for Degas' bag of paints. She searches all over Paris for Degas. On the way she has encounters with many other painters of his day.

A delightful little romp.

[Tricia Douglas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was one of the selections for February in our children's picture book group. It provided a good introduction to children of the famous artist Degas with pictures reminiscent of the Impressionists. The story had a little dancer searching the streets of Paris for Degas who has accidently taken her dance bag and she in turn has his paints. In her search she meets several other artists of the 1860s. This book provides a good introduction for children to Degas and other painters of this time period.

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Barely three stars for me. While I appreciate the idea of the young girl meeting many Impressionist artists as she winds through of Paris following Degas, the whole premise is just a little too far-fetched for me (Degas and the dancer get their bags mixed up and the ballerina goes running through the streets of Paris in her ballet attire? really!?) and I very much disliked the artwork which, IMO, does not do justice to Degas or any of the Impressionists. We don't get many insights into the creative process of any of the artists mentioned and they don't feel very unique -- some, like Renior, are barely distinguishable from any random street artist -- though we do get a few tidbits such as how most Impressionists did not believe in using the color black but rather in adding multiple colors together to give that impression. I would not recommend this for a picture book biography on Degas or an in-depth study of the Impressionist movement though for a cursory study it could be entertaining.

[Mili Fay · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a story of a little ballerina who swaps her bag with that of a prominent Impressionist painter: Edgar Degas. The bag he took holds her tutu for the evening performance and she must get it back. But will she be able to do so in time? With the help of other Impressionist artists, she just might.

Though, the story is fictional, it feels real, and it is a lot of fun. I'm an artist and Impressionism is my favourite period. As I was reading the story, I felt transported to the late 19th century where I caught glimpses of my favourite artists. I even managed to discover a new one, Mary Cassatt.

The illustrations roughly mimic Degas' style of painting, and though sometimes they are very crude, they carry the story along, giving it a sense of urgency. The illustrations seem to unravel and the angles sharpen as the little ballerina's time is running out, then they come together in the end.

I may get this book, or I may not. Though I like the story, I do find a lot of the illustrations in the book are a bit too crude to inspire me.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful illustrations and a fun story introduce us to many of the most important artists in the impressionist movement. A young ballerina accidentally gets her bag with her tutu swapped with Degas' bag of paints shortly before a recital. She chases Degas through Paris trying to swap bags. As she chases him, she encounters Monet, Renoir and others. Captivated my attention and that of my children.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dad, mom, Ellie rates 4 stars, Jacob 3 stars

[Marsha · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fictional chase to retrieve a mislaid tutu takes a young ballerina through the City of Lights—and a glorious chase it is! Sepia tones give way to cool blues and warm golds as the little girl talks to the various different artists working on the streets and in the flats of France.

Eva Montanari cleverly maintains the sense of momentum of the young girl even as she pauses to take in the sights of a rainy day, a street of dancers and a young girl slouching in an armchair. The illustrator recreates the Impressionistic style of the various painters who lived and worked in Paris with a faithfulness that doesn’t devolve into mindless copying. After all, we’re merely meant to get an “impression” of the paintings.

For those children (and adults) who are curious about the artists and the works that are shown in this picture book, the artist has helpfully included them in the back of the book. They are lovely little introductions into this fabulous artistic movement that inspired a generation of painters.

[Jade · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this story, we follow a young ballerina through the streets of Paris. She was in dance class that was being painted by Edgar Degas. He leaves, and she sees the painting- she's right in the front, scratching her back! She is mortified, and goes to leave, but realizes that in her bag are Monsieur Degas' paints. This begins a chase around the city, in which the ballerina talks to multiple different painters to try to track down Degas before the big recital he has to paint. She finds him, gives him the paint, and ends up becoming the star of that night's painting.

I think this story is a lovely mix of art history and historical fiction, all wrapped up in a picture book. The illustration is a unique, modern take on impressionism; however, when a painting is vaguely referenced, it is easily identifiable. I think that this is a great story to teach about impressionism, as well as the eccentric and artistic culture of 1870's Paris.

The Lexile is AD640L, and the age range is 5-8.

[Shannon K]

This book is an all around artistic masterpiece. The author/illustrated was inspired to create this story by Edgar Degas’s painting L'etoile. All through out the pages of this book are images that were inspired by famous paintings by artist such as Monet, Renoir, Caillebotte, and Cassatt. The back pages in this book explain how she recreated these paintings and worked them into her book, these pages were really very interesting to me. In my opinion the story line in this book is just ok, but the greatest aspects of this book are the illustrations and how Montanari worked famous works of art into the pages her book and the explanations on the back pages that helps to bring the book alive and gives it a somewhat real life perspective.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the little girl runs all around the Opera House district looking for Degas she passes through the scenes of a number of famous impressionist paintings as they are painted.

Not heavy-handed or long in the story making it accessible for younger readers (5+); leaving the artistic notes etc for the back for further discussion. Which makes it a more enjoyable read for children I think than Linnea in Monet's Garden.

[Jeannine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charming and imaginative premise: A young ballerina finds that Degas (who has been painting the ballerinas) has mistakenly taken her bag with her tutu in it, and left his paints behind. Our heroine dashes through the streets of Paris, encountering many famous impressionist painters painting their most famous works, trying to find Degas and get her tutu back before an important performance.

Beautiful illustrations.

A delight for readers of all ages.

[Tanya Wadley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a darling book in which a young ballerina runs through the streets of Paris trying to find Degas after her ballet bag gets switched with his paint bag. On the way she meets up with several impressionist artists of the time.

We really liked looking at the impressionist art (6 pieces) at the back of the book with a short non-ficion introduction to Impressionism. Good book for discussing art. Kids loved it.

[Tracy Holland · Rating 3 out of 5]

A beautifully, impressionistically illustrated story of a young ballerina on a search to find Degas so that she can return his art bag. As the young girl searches the streets of Paris for Degas, she runs into several impressionistic artists: Renoir, Money, Cassatt., and learns about art along the way.

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars I have never read a book inspired by so many paintings. In the back it explains about the Degas inspiration, but Monet and others. The authors notes that the "chase" didn't happened but all of the painters and paintings happened within 5 years of each other in Northern Paris near the mention opera house. (You must look at the pictures at the back)

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't really want to get into another sort of "Linnea in Monet's Garden" type of book since they are not always done well, but this lovely little book actually does a nice job and manages to name drop all sorts of painters.

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chasing Degas is a lovely book that imagines a young ballerina accidentally switching bags with Degas and going on a virtual art history search for him. The story is delightful and I love that the book includes details about the paintings showcased during the chase. A sweet story.

[Mandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another lovely children's book for my tiny dancer. Considering she's marveled over multiple Degas pieces now, this book was a fantastic treat! The exploration through the city, introducing multiple famous artists was brilliant. A must read for any little ballerina's in your home. :)

[Teri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story based on real paintings painted in Paris around the same time.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful way to introduce children to famous French Impressionists and some of their famous works. The illustrations are fantastic, and the story is engaging.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Artsy. How could I NOT like this book?

[Kasper · Rating 3 out of 5]

Charming!

[Sandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute fictitious story that introduces children not just to Degas, but also to several of his contemporaries. Did not hold my daughter's attention, but I enjoyed it.

[Sandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the idea of this book - a little ballerina confuses her bag for Degas'. When she realizes she has his paints, she sets off to find him and in the process meets many of the other French Impressionist painters. This book was an interesting stroll through Paris in the time of impressionism, but it wasn't a favorite book within our exploration of France.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved how real famous pieces of art were woven into the illustrations. The text felt written as a means to force those artworks into the story, but that was alright. Just wish the text wasn't so dense. But, in all fairness, this book is from 2009, and standards for picture book length have changed drastically since then.

[Child960801 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is actually about a whole number of Impressionist painters. A young ballerina runs through the streets of Paris trying to find the painter Degas. She meets many other Impressionist painters along the way. At the back, the author shares more about each of the painters and the famous paintings they are working on in the book.

[Sandie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I personally really enjoyed learning about each of the painters and the paintings portrayed in the pages of the book. I know the story is fictional but the characters are not. I am not sure how well a very small child like 3-4 would enjoy this book. But maybe an older child interested in either art or ballet would enjoy it.

[Christine Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute story and I liked how it was inspired by Impressionist paintings. There were even photos of the paintings that inspired the illustrations and storyline in the back. It also had some information about Impressionism snuck in there which was fun to read.