Willy's Pictures

Finding original ways to engage young children and introduce them to the world's greatest artists, appears to be popular with publishers. In this latest example, award winning illustrator Anthony Browne has copied and wittily adapted some famous paintings by, amongst others, Goya, Rousseau and Botticelli. Willy is an ape whose pictures tell a story. He paints himself and his friends, Millie and Buster Nose, into copies of masterpieces. This is an ingenious and indeed informative book. There are miniature versions of the originals in a pull out spread at the back and the reader is invited to match up the originals with Willy's pictures and to see what Willy says about them. This book will be appreciated by adults as much, if not more so, than children. The pictures draw you back repeatedly, and each viewing reveals details that may have been missed earlier. There are five other books about Willy including Willy the Champ and Willy the Wizard.