Eyewitness: Impressionism

DK Eyewitness Books

by Jude Welton

Featuring an extra-sturdy library binding!

Say the words "reference book" and most people think of something boring. But DK Eyewitness Books proves that doesn't have to be the case by showing readers in pictures what other books only tell them in words. What makes DK Eyewitness Books so compelling is a "lexigraphic" design style developed by Peter Kindersley. He created a design approach that integrated words to give meaning to the pictures. Rich with content, Eyewitness Books use a lively mix of full-color photographs and illustrations, cutaway and cross-section views, 3-D models, and maps to help the reader visualize the subject. Parents and educators quickly embraced the lexigraphic approach. The rest, as they say, is history.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction

64 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Jude Welton has a 10-year-old son with Asperger's Syndrome. Originally trained as a child psychologist specializing in autism, she is a freelance writer, writing mainly on the arts. She recently started writing about and for children with AS.

Reviews

[lprater]

Part of literature unit:

This Eyewitness Book examines the impressionist style and includes information and art work from numerous notables, such as Renoir, Degas, Monet and Seurat. The book explores interesting developments in the art world, such as the relationship of complementary colors and the increase in the type and availability of artistic supplies, such as paint. Readers can think about how new knowledge and different resources influenced the way artists painted during the late 1800s. I particularly enjoyed a small scene painted by Monet on his artist palette, from which he began with six blobs of paint around the edge. Readers will also enjoy learning about how artists studied people, animals and everyday life through sketches and sculptures to hone their artistic craft. The book contains many full color quality images of famous pieces of artwork combined with easy to read text written in a format to keep the reader’s attention. I would recommend this book for grades 4-12.

[Katy Lovejoy]

Textbooky

[Amanda Pless]

This book is full of color images of Impressionism as well as detailed descriptions of the artist and artwork. The book high lights the techniques and processes that were used in the artworks. This book is good for both elementary and secondary students.