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Smart About Art
Henri Matisse: Drawing with Scissors
Keesia and Henri Matisse have the same birthday—New Year’s Eve! That’s why she picks him for her artist report. She finds out that over his long career Matisse made paintings, sculpture, books, costumes, and her favorite—his cut-outs, or what Matisse called “drawing with scissors.” The report is filled with about 20 of Matisse’s masterpieces as well as artwork that Keesia has created in his “style” (cut-out leaves, drawings through windows, fauvist animals). As she follows Matisse through his life she discovers why he is considered one of the greatest artists of the twentieth century.
32 pages, Paperback
First published March 18, 2002
About the author
Jane O'Connor
281 books353 followersSince the publication of Fancy Nancy, Jane O'Connor's closet now boasts so many boas, tiaras, and sparkly ensembles that sometimes friends do not recognize her on the street. She still resides (that's a fancy word for lives) in New York City with her family and their canine companion, Arrow. --from the publisher's website
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
November 7, 2012
Henri Matisse – Drawing with Scissors
Is a story based on the famous artist Henri Matisse. It is written in the form of a school report written by Keesia Johnson for her art project. Keesia chooses Henri Matisse as he has the same birthday as her! Keesia takes us on a journey through Matisse’s life from her own perspective. She goes through his early years as an artist, right through to his later years and how he used cut-outs
The book is laid out in a very child friendly way. The mixture of drawings and photos of Matisse’s work adds a very colourful mix to the book along with interesting facts.
I think Drawing with Scissors would be an interesting book to introduce to a Key Stage 2 class group, as a way to introduce projects. It is very informative about the artist in question and I understand it is one in a series of art books. I think this book would both inspire project work and creativity in the classroom. This book can be used to improve literacy skills but also to help the children to appreciate great artists and could be developed to create their own creative project using this book as a guideline.
Is a story based on the famous artist Henri Matisse. It is written in the form of a school report written by Keesia Johnson for her art project. Keesia chooses Henri Matisse as he has the same birthday as her! Keesia takes us on a journey through Matisse’s life from her own perspective. She goes through his early years as an artist, right through to his later years and how he used cut-outs
The book is laid out in a very child friendly way. The mixture of drawings and photos of Matisse’s work adds a very colourful mix to the book along with interesting facts.
I think Drawing with Scissors would be an interesting book to introduce to a Key Stage 2 class group, as a way to introduce projects. It is very informative about the artist in question and I understand it is one in a series of art books. I think this book would both inspire project work and creativity in the classroom. This book can be used to improve literacy skills but also to help the children to appreciate great artists and could be developed to create their own creative project using this book as a guideline.
January 8, 2018
This was a great little biography of Henri Matisse, written in the form of a school report done by a child. I really liked it, not only for the information you and your child can learn about Henri Matisse, but for the way it's laid out like a school report. I feel like it gives a terrific example of how to write a research paper. My daughter and I are reading From the Mixed up Files of Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler and doing a study on various artist and I'm so excited to have found this series of biographies at our local library. After reading this book, my 9 year old daughter was inspired to do a "scissor drawing" in the style of Matisse's collage cut outs, but with her own flair. She had a lot of fun and I love the art she produced from it. I can't wait to read more books in this series and use them for more art inspiration and learning.
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November 13, 2016Keesia and Henri Matisse have the same birthday--New Year's Eve! That's why she picks him for her artist report. She finds out that over his long career Matisse made paintings, sculpture, books, costumes, and her favorite--his cut-outs, or what Matisse called "drawing with scissors." The report is filled with about 20 of Matisse's masterpieces as well as artwork that Keesia has created in his "style" (cut-out leaves, drawings through windows, fauvist animals). As she follows Matisse through his life she discovers why he is considered one of the greatest artists of the twentieth century.
February 8, 2021
Utterly charming, and though I'm already a fan of the artist & have read more thorough bios, I still did learn several things. Including how to pronounce Fauve (rhymes with stove), and the spread about the little church he designed. I liked seeing example of Matisse's other & early works. I like how Keesia explained what she liked about the different works, why she liked them. No notes, bibliography, unfortunately.
August 15, 2018
Three and a half stars, so I rounded up. There are parts of this book that work so well, I was caught by surprise and other parts that are clunky. Definitely a different take on Matisse.
October 31, 2018
This 30 page juvenile book purports to be a school report on a famous artist. This not very convincing rendition includes a few photos of Matisse, some examples of his work, and extremely simplistic, child-like drawings by illustrator Jessie Hartland. Covers events in the biography and career of Matisse over his long life
December 2, 2017
A cute illustrated biography written as if it were a report for a primary school class. It's interesting, makes use of Henri Matisse's works of art wonderfully, and is quite engaging for a primary schooler.
July 24, 2019
Engaging and informative, they story moves well perfect for children and classroom use.
May 3, 2020
This is a book about an artist. It was actually a student doing a report on him. It tells you the story of his life and what he did.
July 6, 2014
I originally checked this book out due to the author. My 2 year old granddaughter and I have read several of her "Fancy Nancy' books and I wanted to see how this book was. It was a bit on the 'older' side to read to her (although I probably could have) I choose to just read it myself. It was a surprisingly nice read. A bit overwhelming at times but for an older child researching artists this is just up their alley. This is written from a little girls point of view writing an essay on Mr. Matisse. She wrote in detail about him growing up and how unhappy he most of the time was then on his styles of what he did. Really nice way of getting on a child's level to teach about an artist.
September 22, 2009
This is from the smart about art book series. This book is in the form of a student written book report on artist Henri Matisse. It has great facts about the artist, connections that the students made with the artist, picture by the artist and imitations of the artist work by the student. These books are so fun yet informative. They can also inspire students to research about a famous artist, author, musician, etc. and write their own book about them.
July 13, 2015
I think this is a fun book. It's written in a the format of a young girl's report for class. Tons of interesting information and interaction. Pictures are great and have a multimedia feel to them. Enough information to give you a good sense of the artist and want to know more. The girls ate it up today!
May 23, 2008
This is a cute book about Matisse’s life’s work and a creative and fun way that kids could make similar artworks by cutting and layering paper. This book is more for elementary but it could be used as project in a secondary classroom.
February 11, 2012
Really liked this art book about Henri Matisse--told from a child's perspective. The renditions of his paintings are really dull though--get a good book of photos of his paintings to supplement this like: Henri Matisse (Artists in Their Time Series)
March 10, 2015
Great short biography on the artist Henri Matisse. Complete with photographs of some of his work. Easy to read and understand for elementary students. Often use this book to teach projects in the style of Matisse.
September 17, 2015
This would be a nice addition to any elementary classroom or library shelves and a good way to introduce students to Henri Matisse. Make sure to follow this read up with your own "drawing with scissors project."
March 18, 2016
04/11: This one is written like a school report. The boys appreciated that it mentions Matisse's friendship with "a nun," the Monique we learned about in our last Matisse book, "Matisse: The King of Color."
January 10, 2014
I seem to love everying jeanette winter does. This would be great for story time, expecially with older kids to be followed by scissor activities.
August 2, 2015
Lovely simple story with creative ideas
July 18, 2009
Delightful book about Matisse written as a child's report on the artist. Great illustrations.
April 13, 2017
I somehow didn't realize that this was a kids' book when I reserved it at the library. I was hoping for something more involved on Matisse's cut-outs, like technique and process stuff.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews