Katie and the Mona Lisa, by James Mayhew

Hello, Maggy from Red Ted Art (again)! We have just had a spurt of books to share with you!

Today, I have Katie and the Mona Lisa, by James Mayhew.

Grandma often takes Katie to the gallery. Katie wonders why the Mona Lisa smiles and whilst her Grandma has a little rest, Katie embarks on adventure, steping in and out of paintings. Meeting the Mona Lisa, dragons, lions and angels. We are introduces to 5 of the most famous Renaissance paintings by painters such as Da Vinci, Raphael and Botticelli amongst others. It is a lovely wat t "view" paintings, providing a little background about the paintings and introducing key artist to both the parent and the child. I love how it encourages you to step inside the painting and imagine what could have been happening. In the end Katie finds out what makes the Mona Lisa smile! Fabulous. Iam sure that the art element went way above my 2.5yrs old 's head, however he relaly enjoyed looking at the paintings and discovering details whilst enjoying the excitement of an adventure (lots of tumbling and flying and running away). A success!

I am also inspired to find more book in the series, as well as check out other books introducing art to toddlers and young children.

We love the book so much, that my son made a Handprint Lion AND drew his own Mona Lisa! Come visit us at Red Ted Art and see more!