On Grandma's birthday, Katie goes with her to a museum and encounters some of the subjects in five paintings: two each by Monet and Renoir and one by Degas. She closes her eyes in front of one painting and opens them to find she's a guest in Monet's The Luncheon. There she gathers flowers for a birthday bouquet to give Grandma, but they don't fare too well on the crossing back into the museum. Next, her mission whisks her into three more works of art, including Renoir's Her First Evening Out, where the girl inadvertently wanders onstage during a performance by, as the artwork soon reveals, Degas's ballet dancers. Though Mayhew (Koshka's Tales) offers a breezy introduction to this school of painting, the book's duplication of works by two artists limits the scope of the lesson. Mayhew's softly focused watercolors approach the precious and his renditions of the characters frolicking through the fields present a jarring juxtaposition to the subjects represented in the original works (reproduced here on the museum walls). Ages 4-7.

Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

PreSchool-Grade 2-This British import pays joyful homage to the world of the Impressionists. When Katie and her grandmother visit an art museum to celebrate the elder's birthday, the girl wanders into a gallery where she admires Claude Monet's The Luncheon. The garden in the painting is filled with flowers that she is sure her grandmother would love. With a blink of her eyes, Katie is magically transported into the painting. There she meets Monet's son, Jean, along with his mother and nanny. The characters in the scene are nonchalant about the girl's arrival and Jean helps her gather un bouquet, then treats her to a tour of his father's studio. Katie hops out of the picture as facilely as she entered it. Still seeking the perfect posies for Grandma, she ventures into other paintings. Katie achieves her final triumph as she wanders onto a stage filled with Degas's dancers, where she is showered with flowers by an enthusiastic audience. Arms overflowing with blossoms, she returns to the museum to find her grandma. Lovely watercolors emulate the style of the Impressionists but with a more childlike slant. This technique of juxtaposing the masterpieces with more naive versions effectively conveys the transitions in the story line. Not only does this delightful fantasy succeed as art education, but it's a charming story as well.

Rosalyn Pierini, San Luis Obispo City-County Library, CA

Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Ages 4^-7. It is Grandma's birthday, and young Katie is celebrating the occasion with her at the art museum. As Grandma explains the impressionists' technique displayed in the paintings around them, Katie wanders off to admire the flowers Monet painted in The Luncheon. Closing her eyes and sniffing as though she could actually smell them, Katie wishes she had such lovely flowers to give Grandma for her birthday. When she opens her eyes, Katie finds herself in the picture, conversing with young Jean Monet, the painter's son. Katie begins wandering in and out of other classic impressionist works in search of more flowers. She even dances across the stage in Renoir's Her First Evening Out. Katie's impromptu ballet is applauded by the audience, which tosses flowers of appreciation on the stage. Gathering the blossoms into a bouquet, Katie exits the stage through Degas' The Blue Dancers and crawls over the picture frame to return to the museum and give the flowers to Grandma. Imitating the masters' daubing style in his colorful illustrations, Mayhew creates an innovative adventure. His lighthearted approach to art appreciation will whet the appetites of youngsters preparing to visit an art museum for the first time. Ellen Mandel --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Not for the first time, the heroine of a picture book steps into some museum paintings and learns a little about the artists and their eras. In search of flowers for her grandmother, Katie first steps into a Monet, ``The Luncheon,'' and romps with the painter's son, Jean. Next Katie drops in on Renoir's ``Girl with a Watering Can,'' revisits Jean in Monet's ``Field of Poppies,'' and eventually ends up on stage with Degas's ballerinas. The dissolving boundaries of these paintings communicate to children how art provides a window into the past, while Mayhew's illustrations are light-filled and playful, complementing the styles of the inset reproductions. (Picture book. 4-7) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

A little girl is magically transported into great paintings. Fun and funny. -- The Times 20050901