As promised here are three more picture books about Henri Matisse. I honestly can’t decide which is my favourite out of the six!

Henri’s Scissors by Jeanette Winter (Beach Lane Books, 2013)

This concise picture book includes quotations from Matisse’s own correspondence. It conveys his lifelong love of art, but focuses mainly on his old age when he became too ill to paint and began cutting large shapes out of coloured paper. It ends with, “Then one night, Matisse walked out into his paper garden, and the rainbow of shapes cradled the old artist and carried him into the heavens. Are some of the stars we see at night coming to us from Henri’s scissors? Perhaps.” A one-page author’s note includes brief biographical info, plus her impetus for writing the book: seeing Matisse’s wall-sized images at the National Gallery in Washington DC in 2001. It would have been nice if the focus of the book were not so narrow, but it did show that creativity can flourish despite old age and illness. And of course the text is enhanced by Winter’s colourful illustrations. Recommended for ages 5 to 8.

The Iridescence of Birds: A Book About Henri Matisse by Patricia MacLachlan, illustrated by Hadley Hooper (Roaring Brook Press, 2014)

The text of this book (by the author of Sarah Plain and Tall) is spare and poetic, beginning, “If you were a boy named Henri Matisse who lived in a dreary town in northern France where the skies were grey, what would your life be like?” It shows Matisse’s childhood influences, especially his mother who painted plates, let him arrange flowers and fruit, and hung colourful rugs on the walls. The author’s note tells more about Matisse, while the illustrator’s note is a fascinating look at his process. Recommended reading is also included. Recommended for ages 4 to 8.

Matisse’s Garden by Samantha Friedman, illustrated by Cristina Amodeo (MOMA, 2014)

I thought this large sized picture book from the Museum of Modern Art was the best exploration of Matisse’s cut-out artwork. It certainly gave me more of an appreciation for it! The illustrations themselves are made of paper cut-outs, plus reproductions of Matisse’s own work, and some of the pages fold out to reveal bigger pictures. A brief biographical note is included, as well as info on each of the reproductions. Recommended for ages 5 to 9.

What other artists would you like me to explore?