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Title: Leonardo da Vinci by Diane Stanley ISBN: 0-688-16155-3 Publisher: HarperTrophy Pub. Date: 30 September, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.83 (6 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: His name is Leo
Comment: Leonardo Da Vinci is, in many ways, the perfect subject for a children's biography. Above and beyond his myriad of accomplishments (scientist, inventor, artist) his life is one of adventure and interest. The illegitimate son of a leading man of Vinci, Leonardo went into the artistic life precisely because he was considered too base for a, "noble profession".
This book is a combination of good artistry and confounding problems. On the one hand, Stanley has drawn beautiful accompanying pictures for each point in Leonardo's life. On the other hand, these pictures sometimes take liberties with the few details of the artist's life we know of. When the text states that Leonardo, "found a loving friend in his young uncle Francesco", the accompanying picture shows the boy piggyback on his uncle. It would be nice if such facts were given appropriate footnotes, but all sources are listed in the end of the book without any references to pages. Also, the aging of Leonardo is a little haphazard. One moment he's a young man writing a letter. The next moment he's bearded and about to slice up a corpse. The Duchy of Milan is described as having black hair and dark skin, but appears to be more of a slightly tan Italian. These are tiny details, but they distract from an otherwise interesting text.
Undoubtedly, the actual drawings and sketches Leonardo made in his lifetime are some of the best parts of this book. It would have been nice if Stanley had included more of them in the story. Leonardo's paintings are nicely presented, but they're usually seen from a distance. At no point do we get a detailed and close look at any art that Leonardo created. Finally, a timeline would have been helpful in this story, but it has not been included.
None of this is to say that Stanley hasn't taken a difficult subject and made an interesting book out of it. The final product is a bit too advanced for those children accustomed to reading picture books, but older kids may shy away from the type of book they would consider "babyish". Open minded children may be the best audience for this piece of non-fiction. For those of you who would like something a little more in depth and interesting, I recommend "Leonardo: Beautiful Dreamer". In interesting book that suffers from an array of tiny nagging problems.
Rating: 5
Summary: Leonard Da Vinci, the quintessential Renaissance Man
Comment: The cover of this excellent juvenile biography of Leonardo Da Vinci is quite interesting because it shows him as a young man in front of the background from his most famous painting, the "Mona Lisa." I saw a story once that compared the face of the "Mona Lisa" with the famous red ink drawing of Da Vinci as an old man, which did size comparisons and argued they were the same. In other words, the "Mona Lisa" is really a self-portrait of Da Vinci. This makes a bit of sense since the artist worked on it for years, obviously with the benefit of a model. Diane Stanley's cover painting, intentionally or not, references this intriguing hypothesis.
Stanley does some fascinating things with the art throughout this book. She puts reproductions of Da Vinci's actual paintings into her own works and includes various drawings by Da Vinci to complement her text. Young readers will learn about the highlights of Da Vinci's life, both as an artist and as an inventor. Consequently, they will see not only the painting of "The Last Supper" but the flying machine he designed. In a fascinating postscript Stanley details what happened to the grave of Da Vinci and what few of his paintings remain. Stanley provides an excellent introduction to the life of the original Renaissance Man.
Rating: 5
Summary: A typical Diane Stanley Book!
Comment: For those who do not yet know, Diane Stanley writes the best kid-level biographies out there, and Leonardo da Vinci is no exception. She carefully traces his life from birth (including alluding to the legitamacy question) to death. Worked into the illustrations are many of Leonardo's works (so that you needn't buy a separate book for your child to appreciate them). A wonderful book that should be mandatory reading!
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Title: Michelangelo by Diane Stanley ISBN: 0688150853 Publisher: HarperCollins Pub. Date: 30 September, 2000 List Price(USD): $16.99 |
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Title: Bard of Avon: The Story of William Shakespeare by Diane Stanley ISBN: 0688162940 Publisher: William Morrow Pub. Date: 27 August, 1998 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Good Queen Bess : The Story of Elizabeth I of England by Diane Stanley, Peter Vennema ISBN: 0688179614 Publisher: HarperCollins Pub. Date: 07 August, 2001 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: Joan of Arc by Diane Stanley ISBN: 0064437485 Publisher: HarperTrophy Pub. Date: 01 February, 2002 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Leonardo Da Vinci for Kids: His Life and Ideas by Janis Herbert, Carol Sabbeth ISBN: 1556522983 Publisher: Chicago Review Press Pub. Date: December, 1998 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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