MICHELANGELO FOR KIDS

This substantial biography of the life and times of the great sculptor, painter, poet, and Renaissance man Michelangelo Buonarroti describes its subject’s life in eight chapters.

Following his birth and childhood, his life in Rome, Florence and Bologna, his complicated and often fractious relationships with his patrons—from the early Medicis and the Florentine guilds to the popes—and Michelangelo's connections with other artists are described in leisurely detail. Works that no longer survive, as well as those that are well-known today, including the Pietá, the statue of David, the Sistine ceiling, among others, are described and placed in the context of their times. The book’s three-column horizontal format lends itself well to illustration, with photos of relevant present-day sites as well as key works by the artist. The text is dense, full of anecdotal material, and clearly at a relatively advanced reading level, so the assumption must be that it will be used primarily by teachers and parents as source material. The 21 illustrated activities, consisting mostly of crafts such as homemade paint, soap sculpture, and how to draw to scale, are at a much lower level than the main text and would be satisfying only for very young children. A helpful timeline is included. Backmatter includes a glossary, key figures, resources, notes, and bibliography.

Like many others in the …For Kids series, stronger for its content than the promised activities but worth it nevertheless