What's in a name?

Art

by Patrick McDonnell

The creator of the beloved Mutts comic is back with a book about a mischevious boy and his paintbrush, with a wink at Harold and the Purple Crayon. Alas, I made the terrible error of reading the Website hyperbole:

Patrick was delighted to escape his normal once-a-week color limitations and made sure he used every color he had on hand.

Oh, hello, I saw only primary colors. Maybe Pearl Paint had a shortage of watercolor pigments that week.

Okay, setting aside my anal retentiveness, this is a spirited, quick read that feels like McDonnell dashed it off in a light moment. Art and his art dribble, dash, swirl and streak whereever his imagination takes him:

He Zigs
He Zags
He really gets wired
There's no stopping Art ...
When Art is inspired

The verses rise like popcorn; airy and quick, zinging to a happy ending when curator Mom puts his opus on the fridge, because she "Loves Art." Aww.

Mutts fans will recognize McDonnell's signature simplicity and brilliant use of white space as the whole book becomes Art's canvas. Even the end papers bear his splashes and lines.

But while the ending endears, there's no getsya-right-here feeling as with his Christmas book, The Gift of Nothing, but I guess you can't expect perfection every time.

Rating: *\*\*\

Comments

[Kelly]

This one looks really good, Anne! Thanks for the review.