Camille and the Sunflowers (Anholt's Artists Books For Children) Hardcover – Picture Book, August 1, 1994

Camille and the Sunflowers, was written by Laurence Anholt, and published in 1994 by Barons Educational Series Inc. This book was manufactured by South China and is a first edition for the United States. This is a children’s story about the famous artist Vincent Van Gogh. This tale takes place in London town filled with beautiful sunflowers and trains.Some of the characters in this story are Van Gogh, who is wise, smart and a talented painter. Another character is Camille, a brave, superior, strong, and willing boy. Camille’s father, a local postman with a big heart. And last some of the children in the school, which Camille attends. The children are rough and mean and do not like Van Gogh.Vincent felt terrible. He wanted to leave. So one night Camille nearly escaped his house and tried in vain to get mournfully disappointed artist to stay. Van Gogh did not listen. One spring night Camille ran to the painter’s yellow house. He saw him packing his bags. Vincent admitted that this was not the right town for him. Camille could not argue with that. Van Gogh mentioned having a parting gift for the boy. He extended a painting of Camille’s sunflower patch. The bright boy joyfully ran home with his new treasure securely under his arm.Vincent left the London but Camille always kept the picture. From that day forward he knew to always believe that no matter what other’s thought about him, only what he believed to be true was true.This story was a terrific explanation of how Van Gogh became a good painter and how Camille learned a very important lesson. The descriptions of the character’s physique were thoughtful and clear. For example, the author used “quick brown eyes” to create an image in the reader’s mind. However, the story could have used more details about Camille’s father. Indeed his father was not even given a name in the story. The theme was about a boy learning to trust his own perception of beautiful in spite of what others think. Overall, this was a wonderful children’s tale that many would enjoy reading.

A beautifulky illustrated book about a period in Van Gogh's life with samples of his work and descriptions.

I bought this book for my grandchildren. My parents had given it to my children when they were young. It's a beautifully illustrated book that tells a story based on a selection of Van Gogh's paintings done during a specific time in his life. This book interprets those paintings to provide a plausible narrative. The story is based on true events in Van Gogh's life and the paintings he made during that time. The book is a wonderful introduction to the world of Fine Art for young children. I can't recommend it enough.

This is a very well written and illustrated story about a young boy who encounters Vincent Van Gogh and befriends him. It is based on a true story. While it is well done and my children love the story, I was a little bit disappointed that it included only imitations of Van Gogh's paintings and not actual pictures of them. I felt that even though there is a sad element to this story, the author did an excellent job of making it suitable even for small children, and sparks their interest in learning more about his life and works. We will be using this book this year for our homeschooled kindergartner and preschooler, and I am sure that this will be a great starting point for further learning and discussions. I give this book four stars and highly recommend it.

This book has beautiful pictures and a nice story. When ordering I did not realize that this edition is extremely large (about 14" x 17") and is way too big for a home library. It would be much better in a classroom situation where a teacher can hold up the book and all the children will be able to see the pictures. There are study questions included. I returned this book and purchased a smaller edition that is now called Van Gogh and the Sunflowers but is the same story and pictures.

Nice way to introduce Vincent VanGogh's history and art to children. After reading the story in preparation for my lesson to present to 3-5 year olds, I chose to reword and explain in more detail some of the sadder parts of the story to make it more appropriate for my audience.

Such a pretty story to learn about Van Gogh’s life in a way that is geared towards children. My kids and I were reading this to learn about art and the life of Vincent Van Gogh, the illustrations are really pretty and vivid. The way the story is told is fast and to the point and tells a lot about the behind the scenes feelings of Van Gogh.However I will like the inform any other parents wanting to read or get this for their kids that there is a snippet in the end that talks about Van Gogh’s suicide and mental struggles in a not so child friendly way. I know is very hard to try to explain that to kids in a sensible manner but they clearly just very bluntly stated within the story and text that he cut off his own ear and committed suicide without any warning and then the story ends.Definitely give the book a try but i would recommend to proof read before reading out loud to kids.

I love how the author finds one characteristic of the author to focus on in a way that is accessible to children. The art flows well with the style of Van Gogh. This and Cezanne are my favorites in Anholt's series.

I've been a massive fan of Van Gogh since I was a child, and I'm now training to be a teacher, and while doing placement, I saw this book in a classroom, and sat and read through it myself! Immediately went home and bought it! It's truly a beautiful story, and would be a lovely way to introduce Van Gogh's work into a classroom environment (I know I will when I am a teacher), or even just to read to your own children. It's quite an uplifting and profound book, considering how awful Van Gogh's life was, which makes it a lovely little book. The illustration is also so well done. Very happy with this purchase!

A lovely book and I will enjoy reading it to my grandchildren and discussing the artist and his pictures. A lovely way to introduce children to famous artists, Beautiful illustrations as well.

We had been looking at Van Gogh as a project in class and this was a great literacy link.

Bought for granddaughters school project. Very helpful.

My 7 year old daughter took this book home from school and we enjoyed reading it so much I decided to get her a copy of her own. Beautiful pictures in the style of Van Gogh and a sensitive telling of his life story.