Antoinette the Tree Frog

After translating many children's books, Géraldine Elschner began to write her own. Géraldine is the author of the First Steps in Art series and has about 50 titles published worldwide in about 20 languages. Xavière Devos was born into a family of artists and began studying artat the age of fifteen. She spends her time between decorative objects,painting, and illustration, including several children’s books.

nbsp;Simultaneously publishing in the First Steps in Art series, Antoinette the Tree Frog, also by Elschner but illustrated by Xavière Devos, depicts a frog wearing an old-fashioned bathing costume in artist Claude Monet’s lily pond. A gust of wind carries off Mr. Claude’s straw hat, which Antoinette finds and takes a nap in. The droll narratives are simply told, and the illustrations loosely and effectively evoke the art style each uses as an inspiration. The backmatter of both books describes a bit about the artistic influences and where museum visitors can see the originals. On the back of each book, a reproduction of the original artwork appears.