From School Library Journal
Grade 1-4-An engaging introduction to Monet's later work, featuring his gardens at Giverny. Based on a visit to the artist by a girl who turns out to be the daughter of Impressionist Berthe Morisot and a niece of Edouard Manet, The Magical Garden effortlessly combines artistic fancy with biographical fact. The simple story of a city child's day in the country is brought to life through clear text and vibrant gouache illustrations that blend seamlessly to provide an ideal introduction to Monet's temperament, work habits, and aesthetic. Anholt pulls off a deft illustrative trick, using his own fluid style to capture the flavor of many of Monet's most frequently reproduced works. Several illustrations are successful combinations of photo reproductions of Monet's paintings overlaid with Anholt's drawings of the artist and Julie. Particularly impressive is the foldout spread that depicts Monet, Julie, and her dog gliding across the lake in a small boat. The figures are incorporated into Monet's masterpiece Waterlilies: Morning. Perfect for children not old enough to enjoy the detail and comparatively intricate plot of Christina Bjork's Linnea in Monet's Garden (R & S, 1987), this volume also includes a page of biographical information about Monet.Sophie R. Brookover, Mount Laurel Library, NJCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
PreS-Gr. 3. From the creator of picture books such as Leonardo and the Flying Boy (2000), this story features Julie and her dog, Louie, who spend an idyllic day with Claude Monet. With Louie providing some comic relief along the way, the artist rows his young friend across the pond, where he picks a water lily for her, then takes her back to his studio, where he shows her a huge, panoramic work in progress: a series of paintings depicting his water garden. In the appended note, Anholt tells readers about Monet's life and explains that the little girl is based on Julie Manet, daughter of Monet's friend artist Berthe Morisot. Sunny colors predominate in the illustrations, fluid drawings brightened with colorful washes that incorporate some of Monet's paintings (identified on the copyright page). Folding out horizontally, the center spread features one of Monet's water lily paintings with a smaller, superimposed picture showing Monet, Julie, and Louie in a rowboat. The combination of simple story and enticing art makes for a charming introduction to Monet. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
“From the creator of picture books such as Leonardo and the Flying Boy (2000), this story features Julie and her dog, Louie, who spend an idyllic day with Claude Monet. With Louie providing some comic relief along the way, the artist rows his young friend across the pond, where he picks a water lily for her, then takes her back to his studio, where he shows her a huge, panoramic work in progress: a series of paintings depicting his water garden. In the appended note, Anholt tells readers about Monet’s life and explains that the little girl is based on Julie Manet, daughter of artist Berthe Morisot, a friend of Monet. Sunny colors predominate in the illustrations, fluid drawings brightened with colorful washes that incorporate some of Monet’s paintings (identified on the copyright page). Folding out horizontally, the center spread features one of Monet’s water lily paintings with a smaller, superimposed picture showing Monet, Julie, and Louie in a rowboat. The combination of simple story and enticing art makes for a charming introduction to Monet.”
—Carolyn Phelan, Booklist, February 2004 “…an appealing introduction to the artist.”
—The Horn Book, Spring 2004

Book Description
Julie is a happy little girl who lives in Paris, but she wishes she could walk in a country garden. Julie is pleased when her mother decides to take her to visit the most wonderful garden in the world, owned by a great friend of the family. They arrive at their destination, and for this little girl it is like walking in a dreamy world where twisting plants grow as tall as trees. When Julie’s dog runs away, she asks the gardener to help find her pet, and soon she and the gardener are friends. But this amiable, bearded old man is a very unusual gardener, for not only does he cultivate his many plants, he also paints beautiful pictures of them. Julie has made a friend of the great impressionist painter, Claude Monet. Based on a true story about the daughter of another fine artist, Berthe Morisot, this charmingly illustrated picture book includes reproductions by author-illustrator Laurance Anholt of a famous waterlilies painting, which Monet completed in his garden at Giverny, a few miles from Paris.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Julie is a happy little girl who lives in Paris, but she wishes she could walk in a country garden. Julie is pleased when her mother decides to take her to visit the most wonderful garden in the world, owned by a great friend of the family. They arrive at their destination, and for this little girl it is like walking in a dreamy world where twisting plants grow as tall as trees. When Julie's dog runs away, she asks the gardener to help find her pet, and soon she and the gardener are friends. But this amiable, bearded old man is a very unusual gardener, for not only does he cultivate his many plants, he also paints beautiful pictures of them. Julie has made a friend of the great impressionist painter, Claude Monet. Based on a true story about the daughter of another fine artist, Berthe Morisot, this charmingly illustrated picture book includes reproductions by author-illustrator Laurance Anholt of a famous waterlilies painting, which Monet completed in his garden at Giverny, a few miles from Paris.

FROM THE CRITICS

School Library Journal