(2) K-3 Illustrated by Ellen Weinstein. With reproductions of works by Yayoi Kusama. Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama (born in 1929) is known for her distinctive polka-dots. Rather than a full-scope biography, this picture book is an origin story and examination of Kusama's artistic worldview. MoMA curator Suzuki writes informatively and accessibly, especially in explaining heady concepts essential to this artist. The illustrations are precise and clean-lined, and Weinstein makes creative use of Kusama's whimsical Pop Art palette and the dot motif.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2018

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Cristina Pieropan. "The world was changing. Paris was alive" begins Friedman's spare text, which follows Edgar Degas as he observes and records "life in motion." At each stop--a milliner's, a laundry, the racetrack, and the Opera House--related Degas reproductions are integrated into the story. This practical introduction to the artist's (and Impressionism's) fascination with everyday modern life includes lively, finely rendered cityscapes.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen

(3) YA Illustrated by Maira Kalman. Another collaboration uniting photographs from MoMA with Kalman's paintings and Handler's text (Girls Standing on Lawns) is centered on--you guessed it--weather. But Handler's text also delves deeper, each tiny prose poem interpreting theme-fitting images on an emotional human level: "It's like summer. It's like doing nothing. Delicious." Aimed at all ages, the odd but fascinating volume's takeaways will vary by reader. Index of photos.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Christopher Myers. Myers brings vibrant life to a poetic story of African American painter Jacob Lawrence's youth growing up in 1930 Harlem. Myers's art, a true representation of Lawrence's own style, invites young readers into the era and place, depicting everyday activities such as men playing checkers on a stoop and preachers shouting in the street. A biographical note and reproductions are appended.

Reviewer: Henrietta M. Smith

(3) K-3 Inspired by her visit to the MoMA film department, Charlotte embraces her love of black and white and creates a film (black-and-white, of course) featuring her humorously vain, lackadaisical tomcat, Smudge. Through the artistic process, Charlotte's risk-taking is rewarded and her perspectives open and shift. Viva's stylized retro illustrations mostly follow Charlotte's taste in palette; abstractly drawn figures provide connections to modern art.

Reviewer: Andrea Curtis

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Cristina Amodeo. Friedman's spare, clear-eyed prose pairs with clean cut-paper illustrations to introduce readers to the development of Henri Matisse's late-career practice of cut-outs. Amodeo faithfully reflects the artist's techniques through layering and use of color ("experimenting with different harmonies and contrasts--the way colors played with and against each other"). Eight Matisse reproductions, some on foldouts, are interspersed throughout the book.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen

(3) YA Illustrated by Maira Kalman. This odd little volume unites archival photographs from the Museum of Modern Art with Kalman's paintings and Handler's text, thematically centered on images of girls and women standing outdoors. The text reflects on the past and speculates about the circumstances of each image, producing unique commentary on the use of girls as decorative objects. A curator's note promises future collaborations. Index of photos.

Reviewer: Hannah Rodgers Barnaby

(3) K-3 Both Young Frank and his grandfather, Old Frank, are architects, though Young "uses anything he can get his hands on" to build things while Old thinks inside the box. A trip to MoMA is validating for the boy and eye-opening for the grandfather. Notes on envelope-pushing architects--including two more Franks (Gehry, Wright)--conclude the stylishly illustrated and designed book.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Lisa Canney Chesaux. A forced, rhyming text tells a brief, silly story about how the French frog Philippe escapes the frog catchers who want his large legs to sell to a restaurant. He is safe in Monet's garden, where the painter wants only to paint--not eat--him. Cartoon-style paintings with undulating outlines fit the humorous tone, and the story introduces Monet informally.

Reviewer: Suzy Schmidt