Picture Book Biography - The Iridescence of Birds: A Book About Henri Matisse by Patricia MacLachlan

Illustrated by Hadley Hooper

2014, Roaring Book Pres/ A Neal Porter Book

HC $17.99

40 pgs.

Goodreads rating:  4.06 - 1586 ratings

My rating:  4.5
Endpapers:  bright, solid orange-red

1^st line/s:  The book appears to all be one sentence!!!!   "If you were a boy named Henri Matisse who lived in a dreary town in northern France where the skies were gray/ And the days were cold/ And you wanted color and light/ And sun, / And your mother, to brighten your days,/ Painted plates to hang on the walls/ With picture of meadows and trees,/ Rivers and birds, ...."

My comments: Patricia MacLachlan, one of my favorite authors, has written a simple book about Henri Matisse and where his artistic inspiration came from.  Hadley Hooper has used simple, beautiful illustrations to accentuate the story that MacLachlan tells.  This book is totally charming, especially if you are an admirer of Matisse's art.  Yup, he's also one of my favorites...

Goodreads:  If you were a boy named Henri Matisse who lived in a dreary town in northern France, what would your life be like? Would it be full of color and art? Full of lines and dancing figures?
          Find out in this beautiful, unusual picture book about one of the world's most famous and influential artists by acclaimed author and Newbery Medal-winning Patricia MacLachlan and innovative illustrator Hadley Hooper.