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Summary
Summary
The characters in Henri Rousseau's The Sleeping Gypsy inspired Mordicai Gerstein to create an elegant, beautifully illustrated story about them.
A girl, alone in the desert, lies on the sand and sleeps. But she is not alone for long. A lizard, a rabbit, a turtle and other animals come to scrutinize her, and a lion leaps into the scene and claims her for his own.
A silhouette approaches from the distance. He introduces himself as Henri Rousseau, the dreamer of this dream, who plans to paint a picture of it. The animals pose for the artist but criticize his work with comments like "You've made my nose too big." So the artist removes complainers one by one from the painting, until only the girl and the lion remain.
Author Notes
Mordicai Gerstein was born in Los Angeles, California in 1935. He attended the Chouinard Art Institute in California. He designed and directed animated films for twenty-five years. In 1970, he met author Elizabeth Levy, who asked him to illustrate her children's book Something Queer Is Going On. He has illustrated all of the books in her Something Queer series. He decided to try his hand at writing. His first picture book, Arnold of the Ducks, was published in 1980 and adapted into an animated film. He has also retold many ancient religious stories, such as that of Jonah in his book, Jonah and the Two Great Fish. He has won many awards including 2 CINE Golden Eagle Awards from the International Film and Television Festival of New York.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (3)
School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-Henri Rousseau was a self-taught artist who worked in France during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Often referred to as a naive painter, he is known for his lush, fanciful, and mysterious jungle scenes. One of his most haunting canvases, The Sleeping Gypsy, exhibits these characteristics but is set in the desert; a woman in a striped caftan lies asleep in the sand under a moonlit sky, a mandolin and a jug of water by her side, as a lion peers into her face. Here, Gerstein imagines a story about this painting; Rousseau dreams that he walks into the desert, sets up his equipment, and begins limning the menagerie of animals gathered around a slumbering woman, curious to know what she is doing, where she is headed, and what she is seeking. But one by one the artist erases the animals from his canvas when they comment negatively on his portrayals, until only the lion is left, guarding the figure as the morning sun rises. In reproducing the artist's dream, Gerstein evokes the same surrealistic nature of the painting, but his pesky animals lighten the tone (though this lion does bare his teeth). Like Samantha Friedman's What Degas Saw and Susan Goldman Rubin's Roy's House, this title offers children a story and information about an important Western artist and his work. VERDICT For large collections and anywhere books on art and artists are enjoyed and needed.-Daryl Grabarek, School Library Journal © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Henri Rousseau's painting "The Sleeping Gypsy" has a mysterious charm all its own. Gerstein (I Am Pan!) builds his story around it-and in it. The original painting shows a woman fast asleep in the desert with a lion standing over her. Gerstein rewinds to the start of her journey, showing her walking across the desert, then lying down at nightfall to sleep. Desert animals begin to nose about, and then a lion leaps through the group, ready to eat her. At that moment, a man wearing a beret steps out of the shadows. "I am Henri Rousseau," he says. "We are all in a dream. It is my dream." Setting up his easel, he takes charge: "You, Lion, stay just where you are and lift your tail a bit." When the other animals complain ("You've made my nose too big"), he summarily paints them out-all but the lion-then repairs to Paris to finish the canvas. Gerstein interprets Rousseau's painting style both faithfully and freely, and his story suggests that there's nothing inevitable about the famous works of art we think we know. Ages 4-8. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
An African girl wearing a striped robe strides across the desert carrying a clay bottle of water, a satchel of food, and a mandolin. At night she eats, plays a song, and falls asleep on the sand. While she slumbers, a group of animals gather around to investigate. When an artist (Henri Rousseau) arrives to paint the scene, all the animals except the lion critique his work, causing the artist to remove them from the scene. In the morning, Rousseau awakens in Paris, ready to finish his masterpiece, which he titles The Sleeping Gypsy. Rousseau's mysterious work has long intrigued critics and viewers, and Gerstein isn't the first to suggest it has dreamlike qualities. The Caldecott winner's acrylic-and-digital artwork pays homage to Rousseau with eerie and meditative spreads. The animals appear in vibrant colors that echo the stripes in the girl's robe, and Gerstein's moon has an expressive (and changing) face that reflects the story's action. Pair with Michelle Markel's The Fantastic Jungles of Henri Rousseau (2012) for another take on this iconic artist.--Weisman, Kay Copyright 2016 Booklist