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Bridgets Beret

by Tom Lichtenheld
40p. 978-0-80508-775-8.
COPY ISBN
K-Gr 3 Bridget loves to draw, but she needs her black artist's beret as her muse. One day as she is outdoors working, it flies off into the wind, and she believes that her inspiration has flown with it. Other hats don't help and she stops drawing. But when her little sister begs her to make a sign for a lemonade stand, Bridget agrees. Once she starts painting, she finds that the art was inside her all along; in fact, her new paintings are more sophisticated and draw on the works of recognizable artists. Lichtenheld's ink, colored pencil, and watercolor cartoon illustrations, heavy on line and filled with childlike drawings, add humor and character to the story. Combined with Peter Reynolds's "The Dot" (2003) and "Ish" (2004, both Candlewick), the ideas for inspiration that are included in the back matter would work well for a lesson on artistic expression."Angela J. Reynolds, Annapolis Valley Regional Library, Bridgetown, NS, Canada" Copyright 2010 Media Source Inc.
After her beret blows away, Bridget develops "artist's block." It's alleviated when her sister convinces her to paint some lemonade-stand signs, which cumulatively become an outdoor art show. This absorbing story features lots of texture, including dialogue bubbles, tips for artists, and, within the cartoony illustrations, parodies: Bridget's sign for "Swirly Lemonade" is a riff on van Gogh's Starry Night.
An expertly paced picture book that combines tongue-in-cheek humor and respect for the importance of art in Bridget’s life. The colorful, cartoon-style artwork adds action and detail to the story, sometimes propelling the story along in funny sequences, other times stopping to focus on a single lovely moment. Readers will enjoy references to famous artists. Picasso and Monet are among the beret-wearing artists that appear on Bridget’s wall; nods to Warhol and Van Gogh works are included in Bridget’s charming lemonade-sign homages. An amusing sidebar explains artist’s block and provides helpful suggestions to overcome it. The tips at the back of the book are accessible and fun.

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