KATIE MEETS THE IMPRESSIONISTS

Not for the first time, the heroine of a picture book steps into some museum paintings and learns a little about the artists and their eras. In search of flowers for her grandmother, Katie first steps into a Monet, “The Luncheon,” and romps with the painter’s son, Jean. Next Katie drops in on Renoir’s “Girl with a Watering Can,” revisits Jean in Monet’s “Field of Poppies,” and eventually ends up on stage with Degas’s ballerinas. The dissolving boundaries of these paintings communicate to children how art provides a window into the past, while Mayhew’s illustrations are light-filled and playful, complementing the styles of the inset reproductions. (Picture book. 4-7)