LET'S GO TO THE MUSEUM

This Spanish import combines a whimsical fantasy about a father and child visiting a modern-art museum with information about modern-art movements and artists. Dad heads toward his favorite painting, unaware he and his child have split up. Meanwhile, the wide-eyed child is dazzled by everything. A ballerina emerges from a Degas painting, inviting the child on a tour. The child winds up cavorting around and inside some paintings. Double-page spreads include cartoonish replicas of paintings by, for instance, Piet Mondrian, Paul Gaugin, and Andy Warhol and briefly define modern-art movements (e.g., expressionism, surrealism) and present cursory information about artists. A page defining museums and modern art is included, though it should have preceded the others. Occasionally, figures in artworks speak to the child or readers. By adventure’s end, the child can’t wait to return to the museum, and Dad’s taken a deep dive into art in more ways than one. This well-meaning but not wholly successful introduction clearly requires an adult to share and explain the information; most young readers are unlikely to fully absorb and appreciate the technicalities, let alone complain about omitted artists (for instance, Salvador Dalí, M.C. Escher). Still, the lively, colorful, lampooning illustrations are humorous, with numerous nods to renowned artworks. The cartoonishly portrayed protagonists are light-skinned; most of the represented artists are White men, though some women are included. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

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