Tell Us a Story, Papa Chagall

By Author / Illustrator

Laurence Anholt

Genre

Adventure

Publisher

Frances Lincoln Publishers Ltd

ISBN

9781847806581

Format

Paperback / softback

Published

05-11-2015

Synopsis

The twins Meret and Bella love their grandfather, Papa Chagall, and he loves telling them stories. One day, when they visit him in his studio, he tells them about his life - through four different stories, all told during a day they spend together.
The first story is about Chagall' s childhood, and how his paintings of purple cows and flying people made his mother smile. She took him to see the teacher at the Art College, who was so amazed by the boy' s work he offered him a free place at the college.
The second story tells how Chagall met the twins' grandmother, Bella, how they fell in love and went to live in Paris, and had a baby - the twins' mother, Ida.
Then comes the sad story of how the Nazis hated the Jews and mocked the paintings of Jewish artists. But Ida persuaded her father and mother to emigrate to America, taking Chagall' s paintings with them.
The family were not happy in America, but in the fourth and last story Chagall tells the twins that at last people started to appreciate his art and he became a famous artist - and was able to paint happy paintings again.

Reviews

A great way to introduce children to the artwork and life story of Marc Chagall, Anholt's book tells us of his paintings, muses and the key events in his life all through two twins asking for stories. Papa Chagall recounts his childhood, going to art school, moving to France, fleeing from the Nazis to America and then becoming a successful artist all in easy to swallow little stories. This format is engaging and a great way of introducing children to biographical writing, as well as learning about the artist himself! Anholt has written a whole series of books that focus on different artists - through the children that knew them. This is a great way of engaging children and getting them to think beyond the classic pieces of art that they often encounter in schools or museums in a passive way. The narration is simple and easy to access, and the illustrations are bright, colourful and incorporate some of Chagall's original pieces of artwork. I enjoyed this book - I'll definitely be using Anholt's books where appropriate for artist studies in my classroom! Picture book / Ages 7+ / Reviewed by Lizi Coombs, teacher.