(1) YA Heiligman unpacks the friendship between artist Vincent van Gogh and his brother Theo. Her present-tense, purposely staccato narration effectively heightens the brothers' emotional intensity, their sufferings and pleasures, and Vincent's wild and original art. The layout incorporates sketches, subheads, and generous white space, a calming counterpoint to the turbulent narrative. A unique and riveting exploration of art, artists, and brotherly love. Timeline. Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Monica Edinger | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2017

(3) 4-6 A boy appears in DC's National Gallery of Art with no memory of his own life (but deep knowledge of art). What follows is a caper involving a "newly discovered" van Gogh painting and two children who hold the clue to revealing the fraud. An exciting mystery steeped in art history, the book includes QR codes to discover the art in real time.

Reviewer: Jeannie Coutant

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Mary GrandPré. Using Van Gogh's lifelong insomnia and his 1889 painting The Starry Night, Rosenstock and GrandPré have created a combination picture-book biography and bedtime story. Economical, evocative text introduces the essence of this famously troubled, sensitive man, highlighting his fascination with the night sky along with events throughout his life. GrandPré's paintings and drawings reveal her own ease with color and a deft mimicry of his style. Bib.

Reviewer: Lolly Robinson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2017

(3) YA Odysseys in Artistry series. Compiled from primary sources, these artist biographies provide a wealth of information, including detailed descriptions about the subjects' lives and major works. Expansive "In His Words" concluding chapters contain the artists' own writings with contextualizing introductions. Exceptionally wide margins create a clean, straightforward format, and helpful captions accompany frequent full-page paintings and/or photographs. Timeline. Bib., glos., ind. Review covers the following Odysseys in Artistry titles: Vincent van Gogh, Frank Lloyd Wright, Pablo Picasso, and Michelangelo.

Reviewer: Jeannie Coutant

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Sophie Casson. An elderly gentleman compiling a scrapbook looks back on his childhood in the south of France, specifically time spent tormenting an eccentric artist (whom readers discover is Vincent van Gogh). Peacock's first-person narrative, framed as the scrapbook's text, is forthright and self-aware; sunlit illustrations reflect the artist's brilliance without mimicry. End notes offer information about van Gogh and the story's inspiration. Bib.

Reviewer: Thom Barthelmess | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2016

(4) YA After a Seattle art heist, sixteen-year-old Violet and her artist father are embroiled in the mystery of the powerful Yamada family's long-ago-hidden van Gogh painting; soon they're off to Tokyo. Renn's authorial missteps include a too-young-sounding narrator, credulity stretching, and awkward dialogue, but with a super-cool premise, rich settings, yakuza (Japanese gangsters), and hip art-world details, some readers won't mind.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen

(4) 4-6 Illustrated by Octavia Monaco. This volume describes van Gogh's life journey, from preacher to ever-evolving artist. Lossani's text meanders along, with a personified wind speaking to Vincent as his guide. Special attention is paid to the turbulent but passionate relationship with his brother, Theo, and to the artist's perpetual suffering. Illustrations that integrate reproductions of famous works are appropriately rich in color, but they're overly--and bizarrely--stylized.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen

(4) 4-6 Xtraordinary Artists series. Generously illustrated with black-and-white and color photographs and reproductions, these books introduce the lives and work of their famous, fascinating, and controversial subjects. The over-designed pages--with text in different sizes, art, and tiny, difficult-to-read captions running up the sides of the pages--detract from each book's focus. A section of writings by (Van Gogh) or about (Gehry) each artist is appended. Timeline. Bib., ind. Review covers these Xtraordinary Artists titles: Frank Gehry and Vincent van Gogh.

Reviewer: Cindy Lombardo

(4) YA Art Masters series. Illustrated by Simone Boni & Francesca D'Ottavi. These revised large-format art books place their subjects in historical, social, cultural, and stylistic context. The pages are busy; each double-page spread addresses one aspect in a short main paragraph, then also includes sidebars, captions for the many color reproductions, and usually a central illustration. There's a lot of good information, but the books' organization is rather loose. Timeline, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Art Masters titles: The Art of the Renaissance, Van Gogh, Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Leonardo da Vinci, and The Impressionists.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(4) YA After a lifetime of moving, Jude thinks that when she and her mother unpack in her mother's hometown, they'll finally be home. However, the situation isn't what she'd hoped for. Jude, an artist, links her disappointment to painter Van Gogh's troubled life, which becomes the book's central but weakest theme. The story is most moving when describing Jude's troubled relationship with her mother.

Reviewer: Lauren Maggio

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Dorothy Donohue. After art school, friends Henri T. LaPooch and Vincent van Dog visit each other in the country and the city. As expected, neither likes the other's environment. The characters are loosely based on Toulouse-Lautrec and van Gogh, both of whose art is reflected in the attractive cut-paper illustrations. The book includes French phrases and an afterword about the artists.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley

(4) 4-6 In the voice of Theo van Gogh, details of Vincent van Gogh's life and the brothers' relationship cobbled from their letters are laid out in a sometimes awkward translation from the Dutch. Reproductions of van Gogh's work are interspersed with other artists' works as well as archival photographs. Simple art projects based on van Gogh's life and art are appropriate for the classroom. Bib.

Reviewer: Norah Piehl

(4) 4-6 When her mother wins a grant to study van Gogh in Amsterdam, about-to-be-fifth-grader Melanie, her younger brother, and her best friend Cecily spend a week touring the city and surrounding areas. While Melanie's resentment of the attention her family shows Cecily (whose mother is in the hospital) is believable, her subsequent about-face is not as convincing. The diary smoothly incorporates art history lessons on various Dutch artists.

Reviewer: Jeannine M. Chapman

(2) 4-6 Quoting extensively from Vincent's letters to his brother, as well as from later accounts by family members and colleagues, the authors allow Vincent to speak for himself through much of this book. There are plenty of details about his childhood, many of which serve to heighten the mystery of how he became a great painter. A time line, list of museums, and a few well-chosen color plates add to the book's usefulness. Bib., glos., ind.

Reviewer: Lolly Robinson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2001

(3) K-3 Smart about Art series. Beginning and ending with notes from a fictional teacher, the artist studies in this series are presented as school reports written by "students." Each report incorporates biographical information, descriptions of favorite subjects, and artistic techniques with well-chosen art reproductions, cartoons, and comments from the student researcher. The tone is lively and informal; the format works well as a model for class projects. [Review covers these Smart about Art titles: Edgar Degas, Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet.]

Reviewer: Gail Hedges

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Jos. A. Smith. This picture-book biography focuses on the turbulent two months van Gogh and Gauguin lived and painted together in Arles, exploring the ways the artists influenced and appreciated each other and noting their differences. Smith's sunny paintings add period domestic detail, and the reproductions of the artists' work augment the text (though captions would have made identification easier). Final biographical pages provide context. Bib.

Reviewer: Gail Hedges

(4) K-3 In a fantasy, a young boy shows Vincent van Gogh around his hometown of New York. Pen and ink illustrations are augmented with paintings of the Big Apple that mimic Van Gogh's style. Before mysteriously disappearing, Vincent takes Bernard to the Museum of Modern Art, inspiring him to begin drawing. Though predictable and somewhat thin, the story may speak to budding artists.

Reviewer: Jennifer M. Brabander

(4) K-3 Tell Me About series. In these brief but accurate biographies, an emphasis on the artist's early life and training lead the reader into each subject. Discussion of later paintings concentrates more on subject matter than on style and technique. The books are well illustrated with photographs and reproductions, but the design is too busy and fails to give the paintings the focus they deserve. Glos., ind.

Reviewer: Lolly Robinson