Product Description

The young daughter of American artists living in Giverny, France, in 1893, records in her journal her exciting trip to Paris to attend an Impressionist art exhibition. Includes biographical sketches of the artists featured in the story.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #501856 in Books
• Published on: 2003-08-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 52 pages

From School Library Journal
Grade 2-4-The fictional young American diarist of Charlotte in Giverny (Chronicle, 2000) spends part of 1893 with her artist parents in Paris, visiting the Louvre, Eiffel Tower, and Tuileries gardens, among other sights. Her journal chronicles a friendship with Julie Manet and recalls neighborhood gossips who give personal details about such artists as Cassatt, Degas, Renoir, and Rodin, 14 of whom are profiled at the book's end. The narrative is breathless and chock-full of incidental characters, including every dog Charlotte meets. Sweet's delicate watercolors of details like "les parapluies" and "la citronnade" represent the protagonist's paintings and fully balance the fine-art reproductions that appear throughout. Readers are also treated to the girl's journal collectibles, such as a peacock feather, a recipe for cherry "Clafoutis," and postcards of the fair city. This enchanting episode in Charlotte's life introduces Paris, gardening, and an exciting period in the art world.
Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Gr. 3-6. Readers first met this delightful heroine in Charlotte in Giverny (2000), when her father moved there to study painting en plein air with the impressionists. Now Charlotte has an opportunity to live in Paris for six months while Papa studies at the Academie Julian with his friend Maurice Prendergast. Charlotte loves the lights of Paris, the shops and markets and fashions. She sees Mary Cassatt's exhibition, goes to the opera and out to eat, and writes of all her adventures in her journal. Charlotte's Giverny neighbor Monet has a role to play, even in Paris. As with the earlier book, reproductions of paintings, small watercolors, collages of objects Charlotte has saved, and a certain amount of French vocabulary adorn the utterly engaging text. Biographies of the painters, painting credits, and an author's note round out this charming offering. GraceAnne DeCandido
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

VIVE CHARLOTTE!
I've fallen in love with Charlotte all over again! Giverny, and now Paris, in the year 1893, come alive through the American Charlotte's amusing journal-a charming collection of observations, illustrations, french words and collages. As she learns about the painters around her-we learn. One can almost hear the sound of sleighs gliding through the streets of Paris on a winters night, and taste the "croquembouche"-the tower of cream puffs Charlotte alluringly descibes on Christmas Eve! Once again, Joan Knight allows the paintings of impressionists (such as Cassat, Monet, MacMonnies and more-) to help tell Charlottes story-to great success. As with all of Mrs. Knights selections, Monet's "The Magpie" is used to great effect-as Charlotte and friend Lizzy, upon their way home from making snow sculptures, stumble upon him painting a winter scene. There is no doubt that the Mrs. Knight, and the illustrator, Melissa Sweet-succeed in making Charlotte's voice very real-she is a most endearing character-one we all would love to have as friend! One can only hope Charlotte's adventures go on from Paris!

exquisite visuals and text
I bought this book because I was a huge fan of the first Charlotte in Giverny! Being a lover of all things French, I am equally captivated by this second book in this fabulous series. The text transports the reader to a magical time in our artistic history and the "journal" style of the text is witty and wonderful to read. Each page is truley a work of art--a magical collage that makes me want to create my own scrap book. You truley get lost in Charlotte's world. I read it to my daughter every night. Bravo!