Speeding Down the Spiral

An Artful Adventure

by Deborah Goodman Davis

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Pub Date Dec 31 2012 | Archive Date Oct 31 2013

A Life In Print | Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) Members' Titles

Children's Fiction

Description

When Lizzie and her baby brother Ben visit the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum with their father, they experience more than the world-class art on view. After taking an elevator to the top of Frank Lloyd Wright’s famed rotunda, Dad is distracted by an e-mail and Lizzie is startled when she comes face to face with Roy Lichtenstein’s giant growling dog. Lizzie accidentally lets go of Ben’s stroller, and leads a madcap chase down the spiral, with help from a museum guard, a teacher, students, and people with earphones listening to an audio tour.

This imaginative tale leads young minds on an “artful adventure” through one of the 20th century’s most iconic buildings and features masterpieces of the Guggenheim’s collections in brilliant reproduction, including works by Bourgeois, Brancusi, Cézanne, Chagall, Giacometti, Gonzalez-Torres, Kandinsky, Lichtenstein, Miró, Picasso and Warhol.

An art historian, author Deborah Goodman Davis mindfully selected artworks that are more than an aesthetic backdrop to her story—they act as an introduction of young minds to modern and contemporary art. The story is coupled with colorful, lively illustrations by Sophy Naess, bringing to life Frank Lloyd Wright’s masterpiece of modern architecture, encouraging children to experience art in a dynamic way.

When Lizzie and her baby brother Ben visit the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum with their father, they experience more than the world-class art on view. After taking an elevator to the top of Frank...

A Note From the Publisher

Illustrations by Sophy Naess

Advance Praise

Deborah Davis' wonderfully written and colorfully illustrated book will delight and thrill young children and even turn them into passionate art lovers. Hopefully they'll want to visit the real Guggenheim Museum someday (and walk down the ramps really slowly!)
—Jennifer Stockman, President, Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation

The book is unique in that it weaves modern and contemporary masterworks into the storyline, to engage young minds to truly consider these great works of art. Because the action is driven by the character's response to these works, the reader is also encouraged to look closely and respond. I liked it so much I’m sending it to my grandchildren!
—Walter E. Massey, President, School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Lovely illustration by artist Sophy Naess depicts Frank Lloyd Wright's marvelous spiral and successfully highlights the reproductions of work from the Guggenheim's collection. In addition to writing a lively story, Deborah Goodman Davis has chosen artwork that acts as an overview of seminal 20th century art, exposing young minds to the breadth of modern and contemporary art-making.
—Richard Fishman, Professor of Visual Arts, Brown University

Deborah Davis' wonderfully written and colorfully illustrated book will delight and thrill young children and even turn them into passionate art lovers. Hopefully they'll want to visit the real...

Marketing Plan

Our marketing efforts are geared towards museum bookstores and independent booksellers from approximately 30 markets nationwide. A concerted public relations effort is underway. In addition to standard book media contacts, we are targeting arts writers and bloggers, as well as parenting sites, publications, and organizations that are dedicated to arts education for children. The author is a well known arts advisor and educator – her book was given positive review by prominent figures in the art world, among them the president of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation.

Our marketing efforts are geared towards museum bookstores and independent booksellers from approximately 30 markets nationwide. A concerted public relations effort is underway. In addition to...