cover image Picasso’s Trousers

Picasso’s Trousers

Nicholas Allan. Transworld/Red Fox (IPG/Trafalgar Sq., dist.), $9.99 paper (32p) ISBN 978-0-099-49536-9

Defiance and determination are the chief characteristics celebrated in this lighthearted introduction to Picasso (1881–1973). Whether Picasso wants to move to Paris to become an artist, paint in all blue, or “paint a face from the front and the side, all at the same time,” the responses he gets are the same: “No! No! No! Picasso!” Each time, he responds with a resounding “Yes!” and proves the naysayers wrong—even those who say that his pants can only have vertical stripes, instead of the horizontal ones he wants. Allan’s paintings teem with an energy to match that of the artist, and more than a dozen reproductions of his paintings and other work are also included. A lively portrait of a singularly dedicated artist. Ages 5–7. (June)