Children's Book Review: Anna and Johanna By Geraldine Elschner

ANNA AND JOHANNA
A Children's Book Inspired by Jan Vermeer

By: Geraldine Elschner

Illustrated by: Florence Koenig

Published: April 10, 2018

Publisher: Prestel Junior

Fiction

Jan Vermeer was a 17th Century painter from The Netherlands. He married, had at least ten children, and died at the young age of 43, leaving his family in debt, but also leaving his paintings. His paintings represent the day-to-day life of the Dutch. Elschner takes two of his famous paintings, "The Milkmaid" and "The Lacemaker" and creates a tale that could be told for centuries.

Anna, the daughter of the master of the house, and Johanna, the daughter of the housemaid were born on the very same day. These girls have become friends and are secretly making a birthday gift for each other. Anna's father, however, has a secret to reveal to the girls on their birthday. This story within a story is one to tell for years to come.

The book is a bit large for a picture book, but the pages are so gorgeous, you won't mind the size. The paper quality is top-notch, very thick and glossy that gives this book a classic, precious gift quality. Koenig's painted images on the pages are in perfect compliment to Vermeer's painting style. The blues and greens used on the pages are calming and her character portraits tell the story so beautifully.

The end of the book features Vermeer's two paintings and a brief history of him. The author also gives a bit of her history and interest in writing this children's book.

History and art come together in a beautiful story of friendship, chance, and family. This gorgeous book is perfect for gift-giving and one that could be passed down for generations.

Geraldine Elschner is the author of numerous books, including THE CAT AND THE BIRD and WHERE IS THE FROG?. She lives in Heidelberg, Germany.

Florence Koenig is an illustrator and art teacher living in Paris.

To purchase a copy of ANNA AND JOHANNA, click the photo below:

I will be linking up this review on Booking Mama's regular Saturday feature, Kid Konnection. This is a place for bloggers to share posts related to children's and YA books. You will find spotlights, reviews, and sometimes even giveaways by clicking HERE, every Saturday.



Other posts you may like:

OUR STORY BEGINS

WONDERFUL YOU: An Adoption Story

TALES FROM THE ARABIAN NIGHTS

I WONDER

THE KNOWING BOOK

THE OLIVE TREE




Thanks to the publisher for sending a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. This review is my honest opinion. If you choose to purchase this book through the above link, I may receive a small commission without you having to pay a cent more for your purchase. Thanks for supporting SincerelyStacie.com. 

Product Review: FramedArt.com

With the recent remodeling of our home, I was in need of new artwork for our walls. Just at the right moment, I had the opportunity to review my experience with FramedArt.com. I had a really hard time narrowing down my choices. But, since I still wasn't sure what I was going to do with our new areas, I narrowed it down to a fun print that completed my wine corner.

We have a wine fridge and since it isn't really decorative, I wanted to dress up the area a bit. I have an old glass jug that I put wine corks in and found this neat sign at a local shop in town. I needed something to tie the whole look together.

When you visit FramedArt.com, there are a plethora of options for you to choose from. It would be extremely overwhelming if you didn't have some sort of sense of what you were looking for on the site. So for me, I knew I was looking for framed wine prints and entered that in my search.You can filter your searches by color, style, subject matter, size, and shape. So, once I chose wine prints, it then offered me red, white, champagne, or corkscrew. Since I wasn't sure exactly what I was looking for, I looked through all my options.

Once you find the print you like, then you can choose the mat and frame you want.

It can be overwhelming, but the picture actually changes once you select a color of mat or frame, so you can visualize what the print will look like in your frame and mat choices.

The process is really very simple and quite reasonable. The print, mat, and frame I purchased was just under $74.00 and arrived well packaged. I can't speak to delivery time since I was going through a different process than you would if you ordered directly off the website.

The other neat feature of this website is you can search by artist. Once I chose the "Good Wine" print, I also clicked on the artist, Marla Rae, which took me to a page with all of her artwork. If you find an artist you really like, you can see everything they have to offer on FramedArt.com. In fact, I found another print of hers, that I will definitely be getting soon!

I am so thrilled with this artwork and how it brings my wine corner together. I would highly recommend purchasing art through FramedArt.com the next time you are looking for some artwork for your walls.


A post from today, 2 years ago - The Last Two Days of the 10-Day Give
A post from today, 5 years ago - Children's Book Review: Lucy the Dinosaur: Nice to Meet You By Joey Ahlbum



Thanks to FramedArt.com for providing this product for the purpose of this review. This review is my honest opinion. I was not compensated in any way for this review. 

Children's Book Review: Laugh Out Loud Pocket Doodles for Girls By Rob Elliott

LAUGH OUT LOUD POCKET DOODLES FOR GIRLS

By: Rob Elliott

Illustrated by Jonny Hawkins

Published: June 16, 2015

Publisher: Revell

Are you looking for a way to encourage your daughter's creative juices? Would you rather she kills time in a book rather than on an electronic device? Then this book is for her! The pages of this book include half-drawn illustrations that your child needs to finish based on the joke or riddle on the page.

From the pages of LAUGH OUT LOUD POCKET DOODLES FOR GIRLS - artwork by Reagan, Age 10

These are my daughter's illustrations. The left side states, "What kind of flowers are great friends? Rosebuds". My daughter drew another rosebud.  On the right side, it states, "Why did the lady wear a helmet every time she ate? She was on a crash diet." So my daughter finished drawing the lady and then added some spaghetti and meatballs to her plate. Now if she was following the joke, she could have drawn two cars crashing on the plate, but it doesn't matter. That is the joy of this book, the kids can create whatever they want on the pages.

The pages in this book can fill up a few minutes or hours of time, depending on your needs. Once your child has completed a few drawings, be sure to encourage her to share her creations with grandparents, siblings, and friends and she can revel in the telling of the jokes as well. Even though this book states it's for girls on the cover, many of the pages aren't just for girls. The pages are full of animals, people, and food, not princesses and dolls.

This book is small in size and fits in my hand which makes it easy to tuck into your purse with a pencil and pull it out whenever you have time to fill: on a car ride, in a waiting room, while waiting for the bus, or at a restaurant. The illustrations are easy for kids to either finish or add their own next to. They aren't overly detailed but enough that you can see the personality of the animal or person in Hawkin's original drawing.

These are the kind of books that I love to give as gifts because they are unique and help parents fill time and encourage imagination. There is a similar book for boys as well. These books would even fit in their Christmas stockings, so by ordering now, you could have your shopping done for all your grandkids, nieces, nephews, and your own children!

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Rob Elliott has been a publishing professional for more than 15 years. He lives in West Michigan, where in his spare time he enjoys laughing out loud with his wife and four children.


If you would like to purchase a copy of LAUGH OUT LOUD POCKET DOODLES click any of the photos below:

I will be linking up with Booking Mama's Kid Konnection on Saturday. Click HERE to see other bloggers share reviews and spotlights of other children's and YA books. 

Thanks to the publisher for sending a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. This review is my honest opinion. I was not compensated in anyway for this review. If you choose to purchase the book through the above link, I may receive a small commission without you having to pay a cent more for your purchase. Thanks for supporting SincerelyStacie.com reviews.