How Dreadful!

This ardent tale about the artist’s life starts just days before the opening of an exhibition. Artist Paty, who has silvery wings, huge eyes, and a long proboscis, works in a high-ceilinged studio in what appears to be a Paris garret. Despite the deadline, she has yet to prepare, and the pressure is on. Friend Isabelle, a poufy purple spider, happily agrees to pose for a watercolor portrait but is underwhelmed with the result: “Humph,” Lewis translates in conversational text. Pierre the caterpillar doesn’t like the paper collage Paty painstakingly makes of him (“If I knew you saw me as some hairy old garden hose...”), and Mona the shrimp doesn’t mince words: “THIS was what I had in mind!” she says, holding up a copy of the Mona Lisa. Author-illustrator Lebourg sets up expectations for the show, then confounds them when a pleasant surprise awaits Paty there. In pen and ink–style art highlighted by soft washes, the heavy-lidded googly eyes of Paty and her passionate friends garner reader smiles in this tale about the personal and sometimes downright irrational feelings evoked by works of art. Ages 3–8. (Feb.)