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ljrinaldi's review
4.0
Based on the true life of artist Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, famous for her portraits, in later life.
But in this case, it is her childhood, where she is sent to away to a boarding school that doesn't want her to draw, or paint, or have any color at all, so she must add her own.
She tries to be good, and adhere to the rules, until her father dies, and she just has to put color back into the world.
Sweet story, and hopefully will get children interested in Elisabeth and her art.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.
But in this case, it is her childhood, where she is sent to away to a boarding school that doesn't want her to draw, or paint, or have any color at all, so she must add her own.
She tries to be good, and adhere to the rules, until her father dies, and she just has to put color back into the world.
Sweet story, and hopefully will get children interested in Elisabeth and her art.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.
graypeape's review
5.0
This sweet story is based on the life of Elisabeth Vigee Le Brun, a French painter renowned for her portraits. While Woodfine takes some small liberties with Elisabeth's age when her father died, she explains them in the bio following the story. Young Elisabeth spends her early years learning art from her father, Louis Vigee, a portrait painter, until the age of six, when she is sent to a convent for schooling. At the school, she's surrounded by gray, and she misses having color around her. She isn't even allowed to have the coloring set her father gave her when she left! She still manages to draw, using her schoolbooks when she runs out of paper in her notebook (which got her into trouble). When her father dies, she is plunged into depression, unable to create, until her classmates find her art materials and paper to use, which helps pull her out of the dark place she'd been in. Then a mysterious benefactor gifts her a new coloring set, and soon she's creating portraits for her classmates, drawing their visiting family members, but her first portrait is of her father, to help ease her missing him. Though it sounds like a sad story, it's really quite hopeful, and I loved the message of using art (or whatever your hobby may be) for healing. The illustrations are a perfect match for the text, conveying the mood with color or shades of gray fitting the events of the story. Altogether, a lovely book!
#ElisabethandtheBoxofColours #NetGalley
#ElisabethandtheBoxofColours #NetGalley
martereadsbooks's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent
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