Da Vinci

Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists

by Mike Venezia

Traces the life of the Renaissance artist and analyses some of his paintings.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Biography, Childrens, Picture Books, History, World History

32 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1989

Reviews

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Today, May 2, 2019, is the 500th anniversary of the death of Leonardo DaVinci, a true genius. I need to read a scholarly biography of his life. : )

[Nabila Tabassum Chowdhury · Rating 3 out of 5]

ভিঞ্চিকে আরও ইন্টারেস্টিং করা যেত।

[Ammie · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of J's favorite inventors. Who just happens to be an artist as well.

[Deanna Sutter · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a simple book that presented the high lights of Da Vinci's life. They did a good job showing how he invented new ways to paint. I was impressed with this section.

The down side was that since it was a child's book I thought they could have showed paintings that didn't involve nude people. They were two... I just think there are plenty of art work choices of his to choose from, why not use ones that are clothed for a children's book???

[Briana · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book brought great memories of me reading these books at the after school program I was in in grade school. As a kid, I absolutely loved this series, entranced by the combination of the "classic" art and the cartoons the author added. I'm not in love with this series but it's still a good series for kids to learn about art.

[Anjanabiswa · Rating 4 out of 5]

By Mike Venezia
Summary: This book talks about the life and painted of Leonardo Da Vinci.
Evaluation of Illustrations/Text: The illustrations are of different picture of Da Vinci's painting. There are cartoon illustrations in the with a little speech bubble to keep the students interested in the story. The text is in a large font. The text is in paragraphs per page.
Strategies for Use in the Classroom:
Timeline - The students can make a timeline of each of Da Vinci's painting to know when he painted them. The timeline could have a short description of the painting.
Own painting - The students can make their own paints and describe them to the class.

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

The revised edition of this book, titled Leonardo Da Vinci, added maps and a timeline of Da Vinci's life. This great improvements make Mike Venezia's artist biography series nearly impossible to beat. Great reproductions of Da Vinci's actual artwork allows the reader to truly understand the artist. Wonderful books!

[Miss Leinbach · Rating 4 out of 5]

Biographical non-fiction picture book
3-6

PArt of a series of books about artists, this book gives a good narrative of Da Vinci's life and how his art was revolutionary. I enjoyed it and learned new things. What more can I ask?

Test set ideas: artists, art history, world history

[Carole Skees · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun perspective on a famous artist of all sorts.

[Samantha Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good introduction to this artist

[Spencer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gift from Harper's grandmother

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I used this book with my little kids (7 & 9) for a homeschool unit on the Renaissance. They already read a bit about Leonardo da Vinci earlier this year from the Magic Tree House . . .

[Laura Scherbing · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really informative book on DaVinci. It's great for 4th and 5th graders.

[Aud · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ĺĺpppa

[Meagan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this series! The info is presented in interesting ways, in digestible amounts, with plenty of photos/illustrations. It's great for kids AND adults!

[Nichole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Genre: Non-Fiction; Biography
Awards: N/A

Summary:
This is a biography about Da Vinci. The book gives a short description of who he is and then goes into more detail about his paintings such as The Last Supper and Mona Lisa. Throughout the book, you will also find small comic strips about him, which adds small humor throughout the book rather than complete seriousness.

Prompt Questions:
How many of you like to draw?
What is a portrait?
What does three dimensional mean?
What are some differences of the two paintings? (pg. 18 and 19)
Who has seen this painting, The Last Supper, before?
Who has seen the Mona Lisa painting?

Critique:
I found this book very interesting. It give a vast amount of information for such a short reading, which I really enjoy. Leonardo Da Vinci has always been one of my favorite people to learn and read about, so I would share this as a read aloud to my future class in hopes to inspire them.

Activity:
Writing a Biography: Students will choose one person of their choice and conduct research on them. After research has been made, students will take their findings and use them to write a biography about the person. Along with the biography, students will attach a drawing created by them of the person they chose.

[Cami Weaver]

Many people know that Da Vinci is a great artist, but this book also informs the reader that he created so much more! Leonardo was also a great inventor, scientist, and mathematician. The book is filled with his art such as the Mona Lisa and self portraits of himself as well as all of his inventions and discoveries - many of which included the inside of bodies. It also gave fun facts of his life and how he worked - like people needed to hold up his notes to a mirror because he would write backwards so no one could see what he was working on. The book uses fun cartoon characters which would make it more interesting for younger kids to look at.

I love this book because I love learning about new artists in fun ways - and this book does just that!

I would use this book in an art class to help students better understand the life, work, and inventions of Leonardo Da Vinci.

[Shareena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its great exposure to art. It teaches children how to become artists and what type of creativity and imagination it takes to become an artist. It includes copies of all of DaVinci's work and letters. I think students would be interested in studying DaVinci just because of all of the mystery surrounded around his work.

Activity: The students could write their own secret letters using the heat sensitive pens and then trade with their classmates and find the secret messages decoding in the text.

[Joni · Rating 4 out of 5]

We all enjoyed this book. After listening to the CD "Masters of the Renaissance," we knew a lot about da Vinci, but this was the first time the kids actually got to see the artwork. The art reproductions in the books are actually very good. A lot of the content they were already familiar with, but the book helped reinforce that knowledge. Josh also really enjoyed the comics in the book. The very last page has a list of da Vinci paintings around the world and tells where each is located. There is only one painting in the USA, at the National Gallery of Art in DC.

[Candi Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Da Vinci (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists) was a great introduction to Leonardo Da Vinci for young readers. It covers his origins, how he started drawing as a youth and what makes him so different from the artists that preceded him. The text is certainly at an appropriate level for children, though teachers and parents should use discernment as some of Da Vinci's sketches or paintings show a little more of the human form than some may be comfortable exposing to their children. My rating for kids: PG

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent series for learning about artists. Includes biographical information, nice reproductions of some of their works and some silly cartoons as well.

We've enjoyed every book we've looked at so far.

And the author handles nudes very respectfully (as in doesn't show them).

Highly recommended!

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book because it's simple to read, includes pictures of the artist's works, and explains WHY those works were significant. Plus some interesting tidbits of info about the artist. Great introductory biography.

[Shelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists, Leonardo Da Vinci is another nice edition in this fantastic collection by Mike Venezia. These books are perfect for exposing elementary and junior high aged students to a large variety of artists and styles of art.

[Ashton · Rating 5 out of 5]

She can paint animals.Also instead of painting she can do everything else.

[Johannes Kristian · Rating 3 out of 5]

MCL.

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect for my 2nd grader and kinder kids to read through on a quiet evening. Nice descriptions, cartoon captions, and detail shots of his artwork.

[Nathalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

These books were in my elementary school library. They're great introductions to art, music, and the presidents of the USA.

[Brittanydaw]

ALL the books by this author are great! There are a bunch about different people (artists, scientists, etc). Way fun for kids to read--and they learn while having fun!

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

great 15 minute read! i love juvenile books!

[Teri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Again--great series! Very happy with these books!