Mod 12: The Fantastic Jungles of Henri Rousseau by Michelle Markel, illustrated by Amanda Hall

Summary:

This book tell the story of artist Henri Rousseau in his later years as he begins his career as a painter. Henri takes no formal lessons, but that doesn't stop him from painting what he loves, esp. jungle scenes. He takes his artwork to an artshow where critics are harsh and say nothing good about his work, but this doesn't stop Rousseau from practicing his craft and continuing to make art. He lives on very little money and teaches violin lessons to make ends meet. Every year he returns to the art show and every year he is mocked, until a bunch of up and coming artist find they really enjoy Henri's work and style and celebrate it with him. He finds success towards the end of his career, and his happy to continue painting what he loves in his self taught style.

Markell, M. (2012). The fantastic jungles of Henri Rousseau. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Books.

My Impressions:

A very fun and informative read about an artist who was shot down repeatedly at first but continued to do what he was passionate about and eventually became known as a master artist of his time. This is a great story for showing kids (esp. fledgling artist). That not everything is going to come easy and you will need to work at your craft despite what naysayers might say to deter you. The artwork is very well done and looks a lot like a Rousseau style paintings!

Reviews:

The career of Henri Rousseau, one of the great self-taught modern artists, began at age forty, when he was an impoverished Parisian toll collector. Markel starts her story here and goes on to present Rousseau as a lover of nature, a dreamer, a painter relentless in the pursuit of his art, and, above all, underappreciated during his lifetime. The sometimes straightforward, sometimes flowery text (“the trees spread their arms, and the sun is a blushing ruby, all for him”) is consistently informative, conveying his groundbreaking flat perspective, his inspiration by the plants and animals of faraway lands, and his determined personality, as well as interesting details of his life, such as his eventual place in a circle of Modernist artists and writers. Appended are an author’s note and an illustrator’s note, which includes keys to two of the book’s illustrations that will assist readers in identifying some of Rousseau’s contemporaries (Gertrude Stein, Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque). Though she takes many liberties in scale and perspective, Hall’s lush watercolor and acrylic art bears a clear resemblance to Rousseau’s, especially his characteristic jungle scenes—as she explains in her illustrator’s note, she sometimes literally worked atop reproductions of his paintings, “altering them playfully.” This successful tribute makes Rousseau—an artist so visionary that he was sometimes “startled by what he paints”—accessible, and inspirational, to a young audience.

Hedeen, K. (2012). [A review of the book The fantastic jungles of Henri Rousseau by A. Hall]. Horn Book Magazine, 88(6), 122-123. Retrived from: https://libproxy.library.unt.edu:9443/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=brd&AN=82581575&scope=site

Usage in a Library Setting:

This would be a great book to start and art lesson program where we draw or paint our own jungles in the style of Henri Rousseau. You could also do a cut out jungle with construction paper since his style was kind of simplistic and full of organic shapes that could easily be recreated with paper.