[.ca] Picasso and the Girl with a Ponytail (ISBN 0764150316)

great read aloud for younger children:
I love this series for introducing young children to art history. We read this book aloud to our young patrons and a follow-up with an art activity based on Picasso's work.

The 2,000th way of saying I love this book!:
I read Picasso and the Girl with a Ponytail. I liked how the author put real pictures of Picasso's art work in the book. At the end of the book, I liked how the author put some more real information about Picasso and Sylvette and put a picture of Picasso painting Sylvette.

Great story and pictures:
This is a wonderful book that we've read to our children for years. The fact that there is a true story behind the book makes it even more interesting for the adults who have been doing the reading. This book has particularly captivated our older boy. As we read and re-read the book to him, it was fascinating to watch as his attention shifted from simply listening to the story to observing how Picasso changed his representation of Sylvette over time -- and his questions about the art captured that change in perception. Together with the Classical Kids CDs, this series by Anholt has been one of the more valuable ways that we have introduced classical Western culture to our children.

From genius springs both beauty and kindness:
I have introduced a number of children's art story books to my 3 year old daugher and 4 1/2 year old son. This book is a particular favorite of my son. I think he finds intriguing the notion of a very shy girl getting attention by a famous person, growing in confidence in her own abilities, and then realizing a dream of her own. He is very attentive to the details in the book and points out that Picasso wears house slippers and keeps all sorts of odd things in his studio. My son particularly likes the idea of Picasso grubbing around in a rubbish bin to create art, which Anholt illustrates with various Picasso sculptures including one of a bull's head, a metal bike seat and handlebars for horns. The evolution of Picasso's work is beautifully told from a classical (realistic) pencil sketch of the girl with a ponytail (Sylvette) in profile to Picasso's final sculpture of Sylvette in found metal objects. A tenderly told tale of a girl's coming of age and an aging artist's genius mixed with kindness.

A book encouraging self asteem and art awareness:
This book not only introduced the art of Pablo Picasso, but also tells a story of a young girl and her growing self esteem. As an educator, I found that this book captivated the children. The illustrations are beautiful. This book has an underlying message of courage and expression. A good book for all ages.