This is Monet,by Sara Pappworth, and illustrated by Aude Van Ryn, tells the life story of Monet.  It is an eighty-page hardcover book with over fifty colorful illustrations.  The book started with a picture when Monet was twenty-two years old.  He comes across as a man with a tremendous amount of confidence.  The book details his work as one of the leading French Impressionists.  The book is recommended for ages fourteen and up.  The book costs $11.34 on Amazon (United States) or £9.95

Monet lived for eighty-six years and never really rested.  Six decades of extremely creative work resulted in over two-thousand art pieces surviving to today.  The book details how Monet was a jokester and was known for his caricatures by the age of sixteen.  He was challenged by Eugène Boudin to do more than make caricatures and instead challenged him to paint the local sea views.  This challenge helped Monet realize what painting could honestly be. The book details his time in Paris, in the army (although his time was cut short because he contracted typhoid fever and his aunt paid to obtain his release from the service.  The book continues to detail his days of study at the Academy of Charles Gleyre.  It goes on to describe both the successes and difficulties Monet encountered throughout his life along with the works of art he created. 

The book does an excellent job of detailing the various styles, techniques used by Monet along with the different places he lived and worked at during his life.  The book details both his failures and his successes during his life.  It also discusses his family as well including the aunt responsible for initially financing his studies.

We had our fifteen-year-old daughter read this book because she is an aspiring artist.  I felt the book would be an excellent way to learn about the life of an artist and appreciate and learn from the wondrous works of arts included in the book. I feel this book is perfect for homeschoolers because it gives a significant amount of background on Monet and illustrations to appreciate.

For this review, I merely had our daughter read the book and then discuss what she read with me.  However, I plan on having her go back through the book again making notebooking pages to demonstrated what she is learning along with having her try to recreate some of her pieces of art in Monet's style.

I feel this is an excellent book for homeschoolers because the parent or teacher can add other books about Monet or even other artists along with other art projects, so the student learns about a variety of artists and their styles.  Plus, the student could create an art portfolio that could even be put on display for family and friends to appreciate.

I feel students with interest in art or history would benefit most from this book.  With our daughter being extremely interested in art, she found the book enjoyable to read.  After reading a section, she would make it a point to tell me things she found fascinating in what she just read in the book.

My daughter and I both feel this book is worth reading.  My only concern is the font seems small for anyone who has any vision problem, such as myself.  However, the illustrations counteract that one drawback.

All in all, our daughter found this book entertaining and engaging.  Our daughter would love to read other books by this publisher about other artists.

-Product Review by Patti Pierce, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, August, 2018