Art Fraud Detective

Art Mysteries #1

by Anna Nilsen

The Museum of Art has a big problem. Some of the museum's priceless masterpieces have been stolen and replaced by cunning forgeries! Are your eyes sharp enough to spot the differences between the fake and the real Rousseau? Hone your detective skills and find the tell-tale clues that will help the police track down the master forgers, and bring back the missing masterpieces. This one-of-a-kind book combines a mystery story, fun spot-the-difference puzzles, and a fantastic introduction to some of the world's greatest art. Guaranteed to enthrall children of all ages, Art Fraud Detective includes historical information on each painting, tips on the techniques of the Old Masters, and a glossary of art terms. Features art by: Rembrandt; Constable; Monet; Picasso; Raphael; Van Gogh; and more!

Genres: Art, Childrens, Mystery, Nonfiction, Picture Books, Puzzles, Education

48 pages, Hardcover

First published April 4, 2000

About the author

Anna Nilsen is a former art history teacher and a prize-winning artist. Now a full-time author and illustrator of children's books and games, she is the brains behind some of the most innovative products currently on the market. She lives in Cambridge, England, with her dog, Tara.

Reviews

[Shelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome… We just spent an hour looking at famous art pieces and my children look for the differences while I read the explanation of the art piece and artist. It’s a great introduction to some famous artwork, and good for getting kids familiar with famous pieces. and it will take us another hour or two to finish!

[Scottsdale Public Library]

What an ingenious book! Mr. Bassett, the security guard at the Museum of Art, has received a phone call telling him that thirty of the museum’s priceless paintings have been stolen by four gangs of forgers who have replaced them with cunning fakes. The guard then enlists you, the reader, to become the detective to discover which of the museum’s thirty-four pictures are forgeries. You are provided with a magnifying glass (that comes included with the book!), a catalog with pictures of the real paintings to compare with those in the museum, plus other useful information, and…off you go! Utterly fascinating – this one will keep you engrossed for a while! – Jess O.

[American Mensa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is not a regular book with a story. It is more like a puzzle book, except it is really hard. There are pictures from famous artists, and there are “forged” pictures to compare them to. For example, let’s say a persons hair in the real picture had a headband and it was red with an amethyst on it but the headband in the forged picture was red but with a garnet on it. That would count as a difference. As you get through one set of pictures, the next set is harder and harder.
I liked that the pictures are mostly from famous artists, because now I know their names. I especially liked the “Birds” by Franz Marc because it is a colorful collage of animals. It is hard though because you have to find 20 small differences!
I would suggest this book to be good for second graders and up. Even my big sister (3rd grade) has trouble finding the differences. Artist kids would probably like it best, and they could even get new ideas from the picture styles.
I give this book 3 stars. It was really hard, there are not many words, but it is a fun book to do with my parents and sister because it is hard for them too.
Review by Lucy H., age 6, Tampa Bay Mensa

[Cosette]

Had this book stolen from us by older kid. Hmmm... I think is is a clever way to teach scientific inquiry.

[Nunya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't use this book as it was intended, which I'm sure if you wanted to figure out if which of the paintings are frauds, would make it so much more fun, but even just reading about the paintings and their painters, I loved the little bits of knowledge about them, and I appreciated that for some of the more well known painters, they used paintings of their that were a bit less well known.

All in all a good read.

[Maureen · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a marvellous way to learn about famous artists and their paintings. Due to the spot the difference games I play I was able to get 25 of these correct. As challenging to find the symbol as the differences in the painting and the forged work.
Excellent book for children learning about classical artists and their works.

[Audrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book! My son and I enjoyed this art mystery so much. You can easily find the form on line, which we did, and have fun figuring out who the art frauds are. I wish there were more of these books.

[Siskiyou-Suzy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty cool puzzle book — next t overly easy yet not frustratingly hard. I wish you had to read the descriptions to figure out the puzzle — forces even more learning upon the reader! But it’s cool as is and makes you look closely at famous art.

[Tricia Douglas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book by Anna Nilsen in her introduction to art for children. Observing art and noticing differences makes for great fun. Reading the history of famous artwork makes for a good introduction to the famous artists.

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for middle and high schoolers. It was hard!

[Dawn Oswald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent!

[Dreamlover · Rating 5 out of 5]

8 year old me was obsessed with this book

[Mary Lou · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book, probably geared towards 8-13 year olds, crossed my desk and I knew I had to take it home and see what it was about. Nilsen combines well-known artwork, crime-solving, and spot-the-difference puzzles into one fun but challenging book. Most of the paintings chosen will appeal to the targeted age group (though a few of the selections puzzled me - no pun intended), and kids may just learn something while they're examining each photo with the magnifying glass that comes with the book. I admit, I put some time into this challenge and still ended up checking the solution for three of the differences that I'd finally given up trying to find. For kids who enjoy this sort of thing, Art Fraud Detective will provide a great way to spend a lazy afternoon. My only gripe -- I wish the photos of the forgeries had been in the same order as the "museum catalog". A lot of time was wasted flipping through to find specific photos.

[lprater · Rating 5 out of 5]

Part of literature unit:

Written in form of a spot the difference book, readers work to decide who altered famous paintings and how. With a list of sixteen art fraud suspects, each one guilty of changing a masterpiece and leaving a mark of their gang in the painting, readers carefully examine both the real and fake painting looking for the number of changes and mark to correctly identify the forger. Each real painting is accompanied by a short piece of text providing insight to the artist and information behind the art. Various artists from different times and different styles are highlighted. The book provides the reader with some ideas of organizing clues and they are found and include an answer key in the back. I would recommend this book for ages 9-12.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is well thought out and very interactive. The pages are cut in half horizontally with the paintings on the upper half and the discription of the painting and artist on the lower half of the page. The fun thing about this book is that the upper halves do not match up with the bottom halves so you have to search the pages to match them up. The author gives a brief description of the painting and the artist so that it wouldn't be overwhelming for young readers. Also, the reader is a detective who searches the paintings to see if the painting is a fraud or not. A must read for young readers. Plus it comes with a magnifying glass. What more could you ask for?...

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is MUCH more than a book. It's a puzzle that teaches you about some of the most famous artists too! It's set up like a detective game, kids grab your magnifying glasses, and as you study the master pieces (the real picture is there, and also some fakes) you read about the artist, and try to figure out who the forger of the fakes are too. I'm finding this book as much fun as the kids, and learning about artists I knew nothing about. Good for age 8 and up (or younger if they just want to help). Really a very neat book with full color pictures - but put aside some TIME for this - you won't finish in an hour (or even a day?!)

[vennela · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was exceptionally clever. Anna Nilsen slyly made tiny changes to the pictures and wove together a tale of great mystery that the reader is to solve. And the part about the paintings that weren't forgeries and the one person (Imelda Ibis, if you must know) who didn't participate in the scam was absolutely thrilling!! I worked on this book with my mother and sister for three days straight, but it was worth it! Those three days were the best days of my summer break and I wouldn't change them at all! This book was truly a good read!! :)

[Trish · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is the coolest book for a kid that shows the slightest interest in art, drawing or painting, or solving mysteries. Great art masterpieces are shown together with forgeries, and the child must examine the paintings minutely to determine where the forgeries are. The reader must then figure out who the forger is from amongst a given group of painters. It requires good reading and attention skills, and promotes excellent focus. Great for a rainy day when TV is not allowed.

[Kendra · Rating 5 out of 5]

My six year old is loving this book. It is a big puzzle. To solve it, you have to examine the differences between works of art and forgeries, determine who create the forgeries and by process of elimination, figure out who your anonymous source is. My six year old has created his own matrix to solve this crime and loves to work quietly on it. So happy to find a Waldo alternative that I am happy to look at.

[Keeko · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a clever book. Sometimes when I look at art, I feel a bit blank like what I am supposed to be seeing and what should I understand about this painting. This book makes the art fun and looking for the clues in the paintings made me feel that I had really looked at them, and it left me wanting to look at more paintings. Two thumbs up to the author for a great idea!

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

05/11 The premise is that art thieves are stealing famous works of art and replacing them with counterfeits. Using your handy-dandy magnifying glass, you find the clues and solve the crimes. Previewed this one for the boys. JB played around in it for awhile. I think they'll enjoy it more in a few years.

[Lea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just spent hours going through this book with my siblings. It's a lot of fun - and you can learn a great deal about the paintings (unfortunately, it was getting late for us...so we just played the game). It's an "I-spy" with a mystery and history twist to it. All of us had a great deal of fun!

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this book alot because it has real pitures, also because you use a magnefying glass to find different things.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

The boys and I loved this book and figuring out the mystery. Great way to learn about artists and famous works of art.

[Debdunk · Rating 5 out of 5]

There need to be more books like this!