"In the pasture, instead of keeping watch over the flock, Giotto spends his time sketching." He may not be much of a shepherd, but this talented 8-year-old boy doesn't have to remain one for long; after timidly introducing himself to the painter Cimabue, he becomes the Florentine painter's protégé--and before long Cimabue looks at Giotto's work and thinks, "the pupil has outdone the master." The present tense lends immense vitality to this simple exercise in biography, written by Italian art critic Paolo Guarnieri and translated by Jonathan Galassi. The lively, immediate story is perfectly matched by the stunning paintings of Guarnieri's wife, Bimba Landmann, which imitate the style of the great pre-Renaissance master while maintaining their own absolutely modern flavor. Children who find themselves absorbed in drawing, music, or any project other than the one at hand will find young Giotto's story inspirational. (Click to see a sample spread. Copyright 1998 by Edizioni Arka, Milano. With permission of the publisher, Farrar, Straus and Giroux.) (Ages 7 and older) --Richard Farr

From Publishers Weekly
The spare, mellifluous quality of first-time children's book author Guarnieri's prose is matched only by the fluidity of line and stark perspectives in Landmann's paintings, which emulate the work of their subject. The author focuses on the makings of the artist from boyhood and concludes with Giotto's pivotal pilgrimage to Assisi, where his frescoes are still revered today. He characterizes the shepherd boy cum master painter as both gifted and driven from the first. Growing up in pre-Renaissance Italy, young Giotto takes the family's sheep to pasture each morning and spends the day sketching pictures of everything he sees on stones and in the sand. After viewing Cimabue's Madonna with Child being carried in a procession, Giotto becomes determined to confide his burning desire to the painter. Cimabue warmly receives Giotto and teaches him to mix pigments from minerals and plants. When the painter later sees the boy's rendering of a sheep he exclaims, "No painter I know has ever succeeded in making a creature look so alive." Giotto's parents then agree to allow the boy to study with Cimabue in Florence when he is old enough. Landmann's (Journey into the Blue Night) gilded, fresco-like paintings shimmer in earth tones. He authentically depicts the stylized landscapes and the flat perspectives of Giotto's time. For aspiring artists and art buffs alike. Ages 5-up. (Oct.) Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Grade 2-4-Giotto, a boy in long-ago Italy, neglects his sheep and sketches obsessively with charcoal and chalk on stones and rocks. When the famous painter Cimabue visits his town, Giotto sees a painted masterpiece for the first time and learns about pigments and the preparation of panels from the artist. The next day, the young shepherd makes a picture of a sheep on a rock with his new colors, a painting so real that a lost lamb mistakes it for its mother ewe and returns to the flock. Cimabue, amazed at the boy's talent, agrees to take Giotto into his workshop in Florence. Thus, one of the great Renaissance artists starts on his career. This charming legend will be useful as an introduction to the artist, especially if children are shown examples of the famous frescoes in Padua and in Assisi, which place him as the first of the great Renaissance masters. The illustrations in this picture book take their inspiration from those famous panels, but the colors used here are subdued and dark, in tones of russet and gold and charcoal brown, and the style is modern and expressionistic, far less realistic than Giotto's own work. The border of the last pages contains miniature sketches of Giotto's frescoes of the life of St. Francis.Shirley Wilton, Ocean County College, Toms River, NJ Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews
A picture book aimed at older readers, this fictitious biography of Giotto explains how such an artistically inclined child might have been discovered and mentored. In the Middle Ages there was neither the choice of media nor the sense of permanence associated with art today. Lacking other materials, the boy Giotto probably drew in sand, or on stones with charcoal. His father ignores his talent, wanting his son to help herd the family sheep. He forbids his son to attend a religious ceremony, but from the window the boy spies a wonderful painting carried in the procession. He finds out who created it, and manages to meet the older painter, Cimabue, who gives him colors to work with. After spending a day drawing instead of herding sheep, Giotto hides from his father, whom he expects to be very angry. Instead, his father and Cimabue arrive, and are surprised by his talent. The older artist convinces Giotto's father to let the boy come study as an apprentice, and it isn't long before the apprentice surpasses the master. This moving tale will ring true for any child struggling for recognition, both in the world of the arts, and in the world of adults. Landmann's illustrations make this book especially meaningful: they capture the essence of Giotto's work without copying him, and there's both a Byzantine and a modern look to her birds (they are almost all eyes), and the almond-eyed characters that inhabit this elegant story. (Picture book. 8-12) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Review
"Succeed[s] in making artistic inspiration understandable to young readers. The story of Giotto, his relationship with his father, and his longing to make art is told simply and . . . is superbly reflected in the paintings of Bimba Landmann." --Starred, The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books


Review
"Succeed[s] in making artistic inspiration understandable to young readers. The story of Giotto, his relationship with his father, and his longing to make art is told simply and . . . is superbly reflected in the paintings of Bimba Landmann." --Starred, The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books


Book Description
A sparkling celebration of the pre-Renaissance master

Centuries ago, a shepherd boy drew pictures of his sheep in the sand and on stones. Today, everyone knows him as Giotto, the pre-Renaissance master whose magnificent frescoes illuminate the Church of St. Francis in Assisi and the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. In A Boy Named Giotto, Paolo Guarnieri tells a story of how young Giotto might have been apprenticed to the great master Cimabue and taught how to paint frescoes. In legendary fashion, Cimabue, as any other artist of the times might have done, realizes that the student has outdone the master and will subsequently find a permanent place of honor in the history of art. Bimba Landmann's stunning paintings, with highlights of glittering gilt, call to mind the work of Giotto but exude a style that is distinctly Landmann's own.


Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Italian

Card catalog description
Eight-year-old Giotto the shepherd boy confesses his dream of becoming an artist to the painter Cimabue, who teaches him how to make marvelous pigments from minerals, flowers, and eggs and takes him on as his pupil.

About the Author
Paolo Guarnieri is an art critic specializing in contemporary painters, and Bimba Landmann is the illustrator of prizewinning children's books, including Journey into the Blue Night. They are married and live in Milan, Italy.

Jonathan Galassi, who has translated the poems of Eugenio Montale, lives in New York City.

ANNOTATION

Eight-year-old Giotto the shepherd boy confesses his dream of becoming an artist to the painter Cimabue, who teaches him how to make marvelous pigments from minerals, flowers, and eggs and takes him on as his pupil.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Eight-year-old Giotto the shepherd boy confesses his dream of becoming an artist to the painter Cimabue, who teaches him how to make marvelous pigments from minerals, flowers and eggs and takes him on as his pupil. Color illustrations throughout.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

The spare, mellifluous quality of first-time children's book author Guarnieri's prose is matched only by the fluidity of line and stark perspectives in Landmann's paintings, which emulate the work of their subject. The author focuses on the makings of the artist from boyhood and concludes with Giotto's pivotal pilgrimage to Assisi, where his frescoes are still revered today. He characterizes the shepherd boy cum master painter as both gifted and driven from the first. Growing up in pre-Renaissance Italy, young Giotto takes the family's sheep to pasture each morning and spends the day sketching pictures of everything he sees on stones and in the sand. After viewing Cimabue's Madonna with Child being carried in a procession, Giotto becomes determined to confide his burning desire to the painter. Cimabue warmly receives Giotto and teaches him to mix pigments from minerals and plants. When the painter later sees the boy's rendering of a sheep he exclaims, "No painter I know has ever succeeded in making a creature look so alive." Giotto's parents then agree to allow the boy to study with Cimabue in Florence when he is old enough. Landmann's (Journey into the Blue Night) gilded, fresco-like paintings shimmer in earth tones. He authentically depicts the stylized landscapes and the flat perspectives of Giotto's time. For aspiring artists and art buffs alike. Ages 5-up. (Oct.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Children's Literature - Melissa A. Caudill

Long ago, there was a young shepherd boy who was easily distracted from his work by his passion to draw. Transport yourself back to his time during the Pre-Renaissance era and meet the famous Giotto, whose paintings cover the walls of several Italian churches. As a young child, Giotto meets an artist who visits his small village. The painter shows him how to make his own paints and comments on the talent that Giotto demonstrates in his art. When Giotto turns fifteen, his parents allow him to go to Florence to become an apprentice to an artist. It doesn't take him long to become a top-notch painter. The illustrations are rich and warm--full of earthy browns, oranges and glittering golds. This book would be a welcome addition in a teaching unit on art history.

Peter H. Morgan - The Hungry Mind Review

...the illustrations by Bimba Landmann are extraordinary in their color and detail, evoking Giotto's own artistry.

Kirkus Reviews

A picture book aimed at older readers, this fictitious biography of Giotto explains how such an artistically inclined child might have been discovered and mentored. In the Middle Ages there was neither the choice of media nor the sense of permanence associated with art today. Lacking other materials, the boy Giotto probably drew in sand, or on stones with charcoal. His father ignores his talent, wanting his son to help herd the family sheep. He forbids his son to attend a religious ceremony, but from the window the boy spies a wonderful painting carried in the procession. He finds out who created it, and manages to meet the older painter, Cimabue, who gives him colors to work with. After spending a day drawing instead of herding sheep, Giotto hides from his father, whom he expects to be very angry. Instead, his father and Cimabue arrive, and are surprised by his talent. The older artist convinces Giotto's father to let the boy come study as an apprentice, and it isn't long before the apprentice surpasses the master. This moving tale will ring true for any child struggling for recognition, both in the world of the arts, and in the world of adults. Landmann's illustrations make this book especially meaningful: they capture the essence of Giotto's work without copying him, and there's both a Byzantine and a modern look to her birds (they are almost all eyes), and the almond-eyed characters that inhabit this elegant story. (Picture book. 8-12)