A BLUE BUTTERFLY

Le Tord (Peace on Earth, 1992, etc.) tries to recreate the mood of the French painter's work and is only partially successfulher pastels capture the airy impressionism of Monet's flowers and water gardens but cannot so skillfully abstract objects into color and light using a minimum number of brush strokes. There are none of the dark, sharp-edged colors of the artist's palette, nor are there reproductions of Monet's work to help readers understand to what Le Tord is making reference. What is left is something of a homage in an ephemeral, poetic text. While matching the mood of the illustrations (``Claude Monet painted flowers like tiny jewels''), this book isn't nearly as helpful as Richard Muhlberger's What Makes a Monet? (1993). That title, for older readers, includes biographical material, reproductions, and analysis. Monet (1990), by Mike Venzia, addressing the same age audience as Le Tord's work, is even more informative, despite the distraction of some cartoony illustrations. Le Tord's volume will be useful to young readers mainly as adjunct to viewing Monet's work in a book or museum; only then will readers appreciate Le Tord and Monet's painting challenge. (Picture book. 8+)