Van Gogh

Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists

by Mike Venezia

Briefly examines the life and work of the nineteenth-century Dutchman who was one of the greatest artists of all time

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

32 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1989

Reviews

[A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not like the book very much

here is why

(1) The first sentence in the book "Vincent van Gogh was one of the most tragic artists who ever lived."

How do you explain the word "tragic" to a 6 or 10 years old? and that's not a good way to introduce an artist.

(2) The second sentence in the book "Nothing ever seemed to go right for him and he wasn't very happy."

I'm not sure if those statements are accurate because many of his paintings reflect happiness!

(3)The way the illustrator drew the character of Van Gogh in this book made him look nothing like Van Gogh

(4) "Van Gogh kept using dark colors until he discovered some very colorful Japaneses artwork"
I'd like to read this info in another source before I believe it.

However I did like some things in this book... for example

(1) The last page inculded a list of the museums that has Van Gogh's paintings. I thought that was interesting.

(2)I liked how the author simplified the story of Van Gogh's ear to the young reader. "Sometimes he would get so angry and upset that no one could make him feel better. This time he became so angry and upset he cut off part of his ear"

(3) I loved the illustration on page 15. It shows Theo introducing Van Gogh to Toulouse, Emile Bernard, Camille Pissaro, Georges Seurat, Paul Signac, and Paul Gauagin...and the funny part is Van Gogh's response "Gee, Theo I was hoping to meet somebody famous" then beneath the illustration the author explains "Hardly anyone knew it then, but many of those painters would become world famous artists someday."

[Jessica Tonkin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Biography, Grades 3-4
This was a great book about the life of Vincent Van Gogh. I loved the cartoon like illustrations throughout. It almost had a comic book like feel to it. I think this would really draw kids in, especially those kids that like graphic novels. It feels like you're reading a graphic novel at times. If I was reading this to a classroom, I think I would just skip over the page that discussed how he killed himself. I don't think that content is age-appropriate. Overall, this was a great book about a very talented illustrator.

[Melissa Namba · Rating 5 out of 5]

My family loves Van Gogh so finding this book, which makes him relatable and accessible to young children is quite a thrilling surprise. I love that it doesn't sugar coat his madness, although his depression is slightly sugarcoated. I love the explanation of each of his periods, including compare and contrast notes. I love that it uses his real paintings so that kids get to be introduced to the magic that is Van Gogh.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mike Venezia has set a high standard for children's biographies, unfortunately this book does not meet the standard of the rest in the series. It seems that Venezia had a hard time explaining Van Gogh's tragic life with the result a simple shallow book compared to the depth found in his others.

[Sassafras · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m using his book for an exemplar book discovery project for my sophomores. It’s a super picture book for younger readers; it provides a concise biography of the artist.

My sophomores will discover elements of biographical nonfiction and also get some background on one the world’s great artists!

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned some things about Van Gogh before reading this biography, because Van Gogh is one of the more popular artists. However, this biography helped me learn even more about him as a kid, and made me appreciate his art better.

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of his famous paintings are in this book.

[تشرين♥️ · Rating 3 out of 5]

My favorite artist 💙 l really liked the quality of the pictures which is showing clearly how beautiful is Vincent’s art, but I didn’t really like the book

[Chappyfamily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this series, they bring artist alive for kids. They are interesting for kids too

[Kaye · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very accessible book for children. I enjoyed it. I would like to read more stories of artist's and their works.

[Maria Cecilia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tem problemas, e inconsistências. Mas é razoável.

[Laura Scherbing · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a great book, and good for the Art room!

[Noelani · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars rated by 8 year old. She didn’t like the sad part of his life.

[Olivia Hoist · Rating 5 out of 5]

Van Gogh by Mike Venezia
9/9/18
5/5
Non fiction Biography, All grades
I read this book during an art lesson on Vincent Van Gogh. Although I would not reach for this if it was not for that lesson, I think it is very informative. It is student friendly in examining Van Gogh's life. He was such an interesting man, and I would recommend this book to elementary art students or anyone who likes reading biographies.

[Shari · Rating 5 out of 5]

Huge fan of all of Venezia’s biographies for kids! Makes it so fun and enjoyable to learn about important people. Van Gogh was no different, perfect wording for children on the tragic life of this famous artist.

[Cathy aka The Attached Mama · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this to a group of children in order to introduce our artist of the term. The group is a hard group to teach because the ages vary so much. (We have two three-year-olds, a six-year-old, an eight-year-old, a ten-year-old, and a fourteen-year-old!) It can be hard to find a book that will appeal to all of those ages...and still make a good group read aloud. I find that these books fit the bill.

[Christina Leone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Venezia, Mike. Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Artists VAN GOGH Regensteiner Publishing Enterprises, Inc., (1998). Venzia does an excellent job with this nonfiction children’s biography on Vincent van Gogh. It has an attractive bright book cover which is sure to attract readers with a cartoon-like illustration on the front cover depicting van Gogh working on one of his classic paintings. In fact, Van Gogh’s most famous pieces are depicted throughout the book with explanations of each on the pages. The font is large, approximately 20 font, making it reader friendly. Venezia tackles complex issues and makes them appropriate for a child to read and understand. For instance, “Vincent van Gogh was one of the most tragic artists who ever lived. Nothing ever seemed to go right for him and he wasn’t very happy.” The illustrations vary between cartoon images of van Gogh creating his work, next to an actual painting that was created. The story of his life keeps young readers interested. Target audience would be grade ages 7-8. I found this book to be very interesting and appreciated the insights and descriptions to his artwork.

[Jennifer Weiss]

Children's books can be an invaluable tool in the classroom no matter what subject is being taught. Not only are there books about math or science but there are even books about artists. In elementary school a huge lesson is on famous artists. Reading from a textbook can be boring, however this book about Van Gogh is far from that. A majority of the illustrations are Van Gogh's actual paintings, the other illustrations are then cartoons. Then there is the biography of Van Gogh's life as well. It describes his painting style and even some d the problems and hard times that Van Gogh faced. It describes how he had problems with his emotions throughout his life and that one time he cut off his ear. I think this book is very beneficial way to learn about famous painters and their techniques.

[Shelly♥ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Van Gogh led a sad and tragic life. I'm assuming many details not appropriate for young ears. But his paintings stand out in the hearts of so many kids, so it is important to give them a bit of history alongside with his paintings. I agree that the start of this book was hard for the younger set to think about, but what else could be said of Van Gogh's life?

I loved that this book had a fair amount of Van Gogh paintings with some stories behind them. The cartoons just weren't as funny for some reason, maybe because his life was so sad. Still a nice intro for kids to learn a little about the artist that created Starry Night.

[Roxi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Daphne came home from school really excited about some bet she made with her friend over Vincent Van Gogh. They made a bet over Vincent Van Gogh's death. Daphne told her friend that Vincent Van Gogh had shot himself. Her friend disagreed. I asked Daphne how she knew that, and she said it was from the art books I bought for her. I have been slowly trying to purchase these books, and she happens to have this one about Vincent Van Gogh. I never read this book to her, but I think the pictures are interesting enough that she read these books on her own. I think it is a good thing???

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is about Van Gogh's life and how he became an artist. He started out doing four different professions before he decided to become an artist. When he finally did become an Artist, he was very poor because not very many people in that time period appreciated his works of art. He would go hungry for days in a row because he wanted to buy paints instead of food.

I enjoyed that they put copies of his artwork in the book so children could see what his painting looked like.

I would read this book to my students when we are working on art projects or learning about famous artists.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

The quality of the art reproductions leaves something to be desired, but I love the play between the art, the cartoons, and the narrative text. This is a good transition to "real books" from comics, and a good intro to the biography genre. Try the whole Mike Venezia series.

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Van Gogh (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists)
by Mike Venezia
the story of the life and times of van gogh and his works explaining his life through is art work, showing is first drawings, and his self portraits.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book describes the life of Vincent van Gogh and shows the struggle he had as an artist. This version is kid friendly, but still very informative. The book also talks about how popular van Gogh's art is still today.

[Shelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists, Van Gogh is another entertaining and informative 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.

[Jaeger Matthias · Rating 4 out of 5]

MCL

I really like the comics. It even said that he wasted his money on paints and not food, so he must have been really hungry.

[Debbie Hoskins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simply tells the story of Van Gogh with brief text, pictures of some of his paintings, and cartoons.

[Morgan Duplechin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! Most books about artists are very dull and boring, but the author added in the perfect amount of humor to make this book interesting.

[Aziz Alkattan · Rating 4 out of 5]

it was short, funny, and has some of his greatest paintings

[geekoutonreading : Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick read to introduce kids to Vincent Van Gogh. Includes pictures of some of his paintings which was a plus!