The strength of the book is that Venezia does one of his best jobs of explaining the unique style of the artist with his look at Van Gogh. It is ironic that in a book where the subject presents such problems, Venezia provides ten cartoons in the book, which might be the most I have seen in any of his volumes to date (there are 22 paintings and drawings by Van Gogh). Certainly the cartoons do not reflect the tone of the text, which deals with Van Gogh's problems in a straight-forward manner. But given the fate of the artist, it is hard to find them totally appropriate. Again, to be fair, this is Venezia's format and we could not expect him to abandon it and perhaps he was trying to provide a counterbalance to Van Gogh's self-destructive impulses. Certainly parents should check this one out and make a judgment for their own children, and teachers should do the same thing for their students. A good alternative text, although written for a slightly older audience, is "What Makes a Van Gogh a Van Gogh" put out by The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
and much more
The CD-ROM is chockful of handy checklists and custom worksheets that help you make sense of the entire process.
If you're considering what could be the largest investment you'll make in your lifetime, be smart about it with Buying a Second Home.
Customer Reviews:
Easy to understand information.......2007-08-14
This book delivers the often confusing financial and tax implications of owning investment properties in easy to understand language. Also good to couple with Second Homes for Dummies.
Buying a Second Home: Income, Getaway or Retirement.......2007-05-23
Comprehensive treatment of second home subject. Readable, understandable, and broad in scope.
Extremely Helpful.......2007-05-04
I found this book to be extremely helpful. The author did a great job at breaking down complex information into easy-to-understand, everyday language. In particular, I found the budget worksheet (which also appears on the CD-ROM in the back of the book) to be great! It walked me through step-by-step how to create a realistic, affordable budget. This book is a must have for anyone thinking about buying a second home.
Invaluable........2007-04-19
The purchase of a second home for use as an income property, for vacation getaways, for retirement, is becoming more and more popular and no longer relegated to the upper income wealthy. Indeed, in today's market, two out of every five U.S. homes are purchased as a second residence. Craig Venezia is an authority on private mortgages and brings to bear his considerable experience and expertise in "Buying A Second Home: Income, Getaway Or Retirement", a comprehensive and detailed manual designed for the non-specialist general reader thinking about acquiring a second residence. Of special note are the 'Seven Secrets of Buying a Second Home' covering such fundamental issues as timing the purchase of a second home, budgeting for a second home, the importance of location, understanding tax consequences, nontraditional financing, renting to offset the expenses of purchase and maintenance, and protecting the investment that a second home represents. Accompanied by a CD containing useful checklists and custom worksheets for use when entering the market for a second residence, "Buying A Second Home" is essential, money-saving, investment enhancing, anxiety abating, fundamentally important reading for anyone contemplating the purchase of a second home for themselves that would be compatible with their financial resources and life style plans.
Appreciate Depreciation.......2007-03-29
Easy book to understand the tax advantages (esp. depreciation) of buying a second home. Recommended. Couple with "How a Second Home Can Be Your Best Investment" for strategies in buying up.
Customer Reviews:
Picasso Rocks.......2006-07-21
This author's approach makes artists interesting for ages 8-80. A combination of comic strip style illustrations and copies of the artists work is entertaining and informative. This book makes cubism comprehensible. The series of books is an obvious "must" for art teachers (3rd-12th gr) but kids will enjoy it as part of a classroom library or in a personal collection as well. If you have a kid who likes to draw but hates to read, introduce him/her to this author's series.
This book is about..........2001-07-19
This book was about a painter. The book is non-fiction. Picasso was in his teens when he started painting. He painted lots of famous pictures. One of his paintings was 12 feet high and 25 feet wide. He painted it because he was mad about people dying in the civil war in Spain. He likes to move noses and body parts around in his paintings. I liked learning about Picasso.
A huge hit with grades K-3.......2001-07-02
I use this whole series in my elementary art class - and my students absolutely love it. Venezia highlights what is interesting to K-3 students while avoiding aspects of artists' lives that may not be appropriate for a young audience. Students love the cartoons Venezia includes along with the color images of the artist's work.
Tells the story of Picasso's life.......1999-10-01
It was a very readable historical biography of Picasso's life and the evolution of his painting styles.
A great way to introduce your child to modern art!.......1998-10-27
Mike Venezia shows paintings from Picasso's various "periods" and explains them in terms a child can understand.("...Picasso felt alone and sad.") He compares the realistic portraits of Picasso's youth to the cubist portraits of his later career, asking the child questions and providing terminology to help him appreciate the difference. ("The man...looks like he's been broken up into little cubes....Can you see the man's face...hands...cat?)
Venezia's humorous cartoon comments highlight the controversies that surrounded Picasso's work and give the adult reader a chuckle, too.
After reading the book with him, my six-year-old grandson had fun trying to imitate, with his own body, the movement that Picasso was trying to portray with his "displaced" body parts.
Customer Reviews:
Amusing Illustrations.......2000-07-02
This is one in a wonderful series of books intended to introduce young readers to the lives of famous composers. Tchaikovsky was an interesting character, to say the least, and Venezia does a nice job of expressing that in an amusing way without losing respect for the composer. Venezia picks out events in Tchaikovsky's life that children can relate to and at the same time, see his unique way of dealing with life. As with all the books in this series, the best part are the illustrations. Cartoonlike and colorful; they are full of details and wonderfully amusing.
Customer Reviews:
Terrific books about art for kids.......2006-05-07
I often have looked for kid-oriented books about art and artists, and usually end up putting them back on the shelf. This series by Mike Venezia was a hit with me (an artist)AND my grandchildren. They're witty but not cutesy, the information in them is actually well and interestingly explained in language a child can understand, and I enjoyed reading them myself!
I used to read the series in elementary school..........2002-01-20
Mike Venezia's books on the greatest artists of all time are off the chain! He make his books more interesting for kids under 10. This one about Italian Renaissance artist Di Vinci is probably one of his famous ones. (Since Di Vinci is famous for his painting called the "Mona Lisa" 1503-1506). This book contains famous paintings (some with details) from Di Vinci including the deteriation of the tempera "The Last Supper" (1498), from the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan. Each book includes back cover illustration of Venezia. His books are small steps to learn about each artist. The series also includes Venezia's comic illustrations. In high school art history, the reader will learn more detail about the artists that the author couldn't tell you (like I did).
da Vinci's realistic paintings makes art real for the young.......2000-06-08
"Leonardo used what he learned from nature and science to make his paintings look real", p 9
The young reader will learn about Leonardo's beginnings in Vinci, the time he spent in Florence learning more about painting, his painting years in Milan and his final years of painting in France.
Leonardo's depictions were noticeable more "alive" than his Renaissance contemporaries. His use of beautiful backgrounds behind the main object of attention makes this a good choice for the young. Their attention will initially be drawn to the main figure in the painting and then will be sustained by the natural settings in the background. His paintings almost appear that they are done while the person being painted in on vacation. The young will intuitively pick up on the relaxed composure of the main figures
Venezia's illustrations are humorous. His narrative is delightfully entertaining. His approach brings the artist within reach of the young. His illustration of some folks deciphering Leonardo's notes and their findings is cleverly presented.
The size of the book is perfect for smaller hands. It enables the young to have art within their grasp. Venezia gives the locations of the paintings and as result if the child lives near one of the museums or will be near one on vacation, she/he would be able to see the original.
This is the 4th in Venezia's "Getting to know the World's Greatest Artist" series. He also has a similar series on composers. Venezia's back cover illustration ties back to the subject. "Mike's portrait was painted by an artist who claims to be a direct descendant of ...".
The price of the book is well worth paying. The book contains the following: da Vinci's Paintings (10.5), Drawings (8) and Underpainings (2), Venezia's Illustrations - 7, Others' paintings - 1.5.
Customer Reviews:
Great book!.......2006-02-26
We used this book with elementary students in our after school program. Since this year Mozart celebrated a special birthday, we decided to call our class Mozart Mania. First, the students purchased a copy of this book and read it. During our first after school session, the students watched the video The Magic Flute. For their second session, we reviewed Mozart's life by talking about the book, and then we played jeopardy game based on the book's content. The children were divided into three teams, had hand-held buttons to push, just like the real jeopardy game. The book was easy to read and loved by the students. Our third activity was to take the children to a Mozart concert played by the Lincoln Symphony. The book was a hit!
Another great book in this series.......2004-06-29
Author Mike Venezia does a great job explaining biographies to children in a way that is both understandable and interesting. The writing style is not dumbed down or patronizing in tone. This is book is one in a series, others are about other musical composers and artists.
The first few pages explain what the musical climate was like in Mozart's life and explains how people used music for entertainment purposes. This is brief and a very good opening to put Mozart's life in perspective. The rest of the book is a full span of Mozart's life. Unlike other books for children about Mozart, the fact that Mozart was a boy genius is not the main content of the book. Oddly, Mozart's children are never mentioned. Mozart's marriage is briefly mentioned as is Mozart's death.
I have mixed feelings about the illustrations. I appreciated that the illustrations documented the various time periods of Mozart's life. I loved the illustrations that were photographs, fine drawings, or copies of fine paintings of the places Mozart visited, of Mozart and his family, and scenes of his operas. I did not at all like the eight cartoons whose illustrations and accompanying text were sarcastic and silly. These eight cartoons were completely out of character with the text of the book and I didn't appreciate them at all. My children and I have enjoyed other books by this author that did not have dumb cartoons and jokes. My children, aged 4 and 6 haven't needed these silly and sometimes insulting jokes to make the subject matter enjoyable. The interesting biography's text and other illustrations are high quality and are better off without these cartoons. The cartoons downgrade my rating to a 4.
I recommend this book and others by Mike Venezia to teach young children about important people in history.
Customer Reviews:
An entertaining juvenile biography of the great Ludwig Van.......2003-02-12
Mike Venezia's Getting to Know the World's Greatest Composers series tends to focus on biographies rather than music appreciation because unlike his companion series on the World's Greatest Artists you cannot include a sonata the way you can a reproduction of a painting. However, for Ludwig Van Beethoven the author/illustrator makes an exception. This volume begins with an appreciation for how Beethoven changed the sound of music (no more party music). Within that context Venezia provides the expected biography, complete with historic ethics and paintings as well as those funny cartoons; just think Beethoven as the Liberace (if you are over 50) or Elton John (if you are under 50) of his day. There is also a photograph of his eyeglasses and metal ear trumpets. However, Venezia only mentions a handful of specific works by Beethoven, touching on how the 3rd symphony represented Napoleon, the four-note theme of the 5th Symphony, and going into some depth on the 6th Pastoral Symphony (but no mention of the glorious 9th Symphony or his other masterworks). Still, I appreciate the attempt to get more into Beethoven's music than he has done in other volumes of this series, which covers not only the great classic composers like Handel and Mozart, but also contemporary composers from Aaron Copland and George Gerswhin to Duke Ellington and the Beatles. As always, the recommendation is for young readers to have listened to some of Beethoven's masterpieces before, during and after reading this engaging juvenile biography and mini-music appreciation lesson.
Customer Reviews:
Seurat Shines.......2006-07-21
The fascinating facts of the artist's life are enhanced with comic book style illustrations as well as copies of the artists work. This author takes what could be a very dry subject and makes it entertaining and informative. This book, and the remainder of books in this series, are an obvious resource for an art teacher's library but would make a terrific "outside the box" addition to any classroom teacher's library.
Mike Venezia makes a few "points" about Georges Seurat and his artwork.......2006-05-29
I think that Mike Venezia has finally found a painter whose style he cannot imitate, but can still joke about. Georges-Pierre Seurat was a French painter and the founder of Neoimpressionism, best known for "Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" (thanks to Ferris Bueller more than Stephen Sondheim, I am sure). If there is one word associated with Seurat's work it would be "pointillism," which has to do with the style he developed of using small dots of pure color juxtaposed together to create a fusion of colors in the mind's eye. So I was thinking that in his Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists series that Venezia might working is some pointillism in some of his cartoons. But in case you were wondering, pointillism is hard work. So on the front cover of this book while Seurat is working on his famous painting some guy comes along and says "Hey, Seurat, dot's a pretty ice painting" (a joke that I am sure loses something in French). On the back cover cartoon Venezia works himself into Seurat's famous painting with all of the figures turning to look (and glare) at him for intruding on their pleasant afternoon with his lawn chair, loud music, chips, and drinks.
This book provides the key biographical details of Seurat's life, but it is the development of his peculiar painting style that Venezia emphasize more. So the art history lesson here is what young readers will take away from reading this book. There are sixteen drawings and paintings representing the entire course of Seurat's career, along with three studies for "Une Baigndae, Asnieres" to go along with two studies and one detail from "Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte." Their is also a drawn portrait of Seurat by Ernest J. Laurent to go along with works by great artist from the past that Seurat studies at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris by Raphael, Eugene Delacroix, and Jean Auguste Dominique Ingeres, and those by the Impressionist artists Camille Pissarro, Claude Monet, and Pierre Auguste Renoir that inspired Seurat to do better. There are also five of Venezia's cartoons that talk about his artwork and the device Seurat's father made for the arm he lost in a hunting accident to attach knives and forks to the end of his arm.
Venezia is a graduate of The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, which is where "Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" is on display. The Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists series is both educational and entertaining, and Venezia always makes good on his promise to use fun to introduce children to art and artists. The pointillism drawings and paintings are surely beyond the skill (and patience) of most of us, but young readers should appreciate the drawings Seurat made to explore the importance of shapes and form done with a smeary graphite-and-clay crayon on bumpy paper, and I think they can understand the basic principle of having tiny dots of different colors next to each other to create a different color when they are blended by the human eye. This is a fascinating series and I am always happy to discover there are volumes about artists that I have missed. Venezia has tackled not only Seurat but also Paul Dezanne, Edward Hopper, Monet, Picasso, Renoir, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Vincent Van Gogh and Grant Wood--and those are just the artists whose works at on display at the Art Institute of Chicago (which I am going to see again this week because that is what I do when I have occasion to drive through Chicago).
Books:
- Ghost Image : A Novel
- Good Kids, Bad Habits: The RealAge Guide to Raising Healthy Children
- High Water Hellion
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- History: Fiction or Science
- Combat Rock
- Tomcat in Love
- Zen Dog
- Alien Nation: Common Sense About America's Immigration Disaster
- Earth System History
- Combinatorial Optimization
- Giving Birth to Thunder, Sleeping With His Daughter: Coyote Builds North America
- Vlad the Impaler: In Search of the Real Dracula
- John McIntosh Kell of the Raider "Alabama"
General
| Education
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
College Knowledge: What It Really Takes for Students to Succeed and What We Can Do to Get Them Ready
Increasing Access to College: Extending Possibilities for All Students (Frontiers in Education)
Preparing For College: Nine Elements of Effective Outreach (Suny Series, Frontiers in Education)
The Diverted Dream: Community Colleges and the Promise of Educational Opportunity in America, 1900-1985
Going to College: How Social, Economic, and Educational Factors Influence the Decisions Students Make
Good information, but beware of noose!.......2006-04-30
