Artemous è un topo restauratore, l'ultimo discendente della sua famiglia: da secoli, pennello alla mano, si aggirano nottetempo riparando i capolavori d'arte contenuti nel museo in cui abitano.
Basterebbe questo a farne topi speciali, ma c'è di più: loro restaurano i quadri entrandoci dentro, e diventando parte della pittura; mangiano (e ridipingono) dalle nature morte, giocano con i bambini, scappano dai gatti, dormono sui comodi letti dipinti dai pennelli dei maestri. Seguiamo quindi Artemous nella sua lunga, lunga settimana d'arte. ^^

L'idea è incantevole, e le illustrazioni molto graziose; ma il topo salta dentro e fuori da capolavori che non vengono illustrati nè spiegati minimamente al piccolo lettore, se non nel dare le referenze minime (autore, titolo e data) a fine volume. L'occasione di un'introduzione all'arte spiritosa e intelligente viene persa, lasciando solo un piacevole libricino fine a se stesso.

The Adventures of Artemous: Book One, Mouse in the Museum is a fabulously fun and clever book! The best feature is that Jim Patrick takes a subject many young readers will not be familiar with and, rather than talk down to those readers about it, elevates their knowledge through creativity and imagination. The plot and storyline are engaging and educational. After reading it, my 8-year old went through our house dreaming up further Artemous adventures with the paintings in our home, That's a fine seal of approval for a book!

Patrick uses great juicy vocabulary in his story: squeamish, pirouette, mousecycle, and gruffumbles as examples. This helps to keep the book fun and keep readers interested by making the descriptions especially interesting. As a teacher and mom of an avid reader I appreciate the vivid pictures (no pun intended) Patrick paints for his readers.

This book would be great for any elementary teacher wanting to introduce some of history's most famous painters & paintings, for an introductory lesson prior to a visit to an art museum, or as a tool to show how to put a fictional character into a fantasy setting while teaching about very real subject matter. It would also make a great addition to a classroom library simply as a means to spark young imaginations.

Great! A super way for kids to learn how to "live" a painting, not just look at it. Love it, as did my 4.5 year old.

Lovely way to introduce children to famous works of art.

This is a great book to introduce young children to the world of art. Artemous enters paintings and either restores them or participates in the "story" about the paintings. The story is very simple, but the book is lavishly illustrated, including various works of art that are listed in the back of the book as well, including the title, artist, and year. The captions also encourage the reader to look closely at the painting. A great way to introduce children to art especially before you visit a museum or art gallery. A beautiful read.

I received a complimentary ebook in exchange for my honest review from Netgalley.

What a delightful surprise: an intelligent and creative tour of artistic masterpieces, recognizable to adults and a delightful discovery for children. The author's clever intertwining of the tale of a talented but slightly mischievous museum mouse lends itself to straight storytelling or to discussion. So imaginative! I will look for Artemous again.

This is a fun book for kids. Mine asked lots of questions while we read this book. Very fun short read!

Artemous is the youngest member of the LeMouse family, which makes him the latest in a long line of art restorers. He lives in a museum and as the visitors during the day tend to react rather a bit squeamish, when they see a mouse, he works during the night.
He has a special talent, handed down in the family through generations, he can paint a magical mousehole on the canvas and is able to enter the painting through it. But the hole only lasts for one night and he has to decide each day, where he wants to go during the night and what fun he wants to encounter.
He has the chance to nibble on delicious food or he can play with children on the beach. In Claude Monet's painting The Magpie he can walk through the snow and when he feels like reading a book he visits one of my all time favourites, Carl Spitzweg's The Bookworm/Der Bücherwurm. No matter if he visits a Picasso or a van Gogh painting, Artemous is up for new adventures every night.
But then on Sunday evening, when he decides to give his working week an early start, all of a sudden a little girl starts to scream, because she has seen a mouse in one of the pictures.
Oh dear, has he been discovered? Will he now loose his job?

The cheerful story is a wonderful idea to encourage children to take a closer look at art and to go and visit a museum with their parents or teachers. The illustrations are splendid and you don't have to be young to enjoy them. There's a portrait of Toulouse LeMouse and we find a cute mouse in a red swimsuit looking out of the window in Edward Hopper's famous Cape Cod Morning.
An index at the end of the book with a list of all the paintings and their artists makes the book complete.

I love this book as an introduction to art for young children.
Artemouse is an art restorer who gets to go inside the artworks and join in the activities portrayed! During the week covered in the book we see him enjoying 500 years of art, including impressionism, romanticism, realism and cartoon., There is an index naming the art and artists, which would be great for families or schools to go further and learn more about the artists.and look for other works by them.
I can imagine this books could really cultivate a love for art, which may not be realised until many years later.

This is an absolutely amazing book! Very interesting and smart.
Perfect for kids and even adults. Love the illustrations as well.
I'm not a parent yet, but I'll treasure this book for my future kids :)

The fact that there are actual paintings in this story, along with the humorous details placed by "Mouse", was great. I loved the details in the pictures--plenty of room for discussion with the children as they search the pictures to see what belongs & what doesn't (ie the mouse hole, sand spilling out, etc...) Great literacy & art story!

This book is a great way to introduce masterpieces to young children. The illustrations are wonderful. Children will enjoy seeing Artemous painted into the pictures. The story is a little weak or dull but that may be because this is Book One and the author is introducing Artemous. I would like to see more developed stories in future books.

The conceit behind Artemous is quite simply and lovely, and not just because it is geared to get young children to look at art more closely. The Artemous lives in a museum and can magically enter paintings to restore them. He also can, for instance, dance with Degas’ ballerinas.
The children’s book is lavishly illustrated, including various works of art that are listed in the back of the book, including the title, artist, and year. The captions also encourage the reader to look closely at the painting, to study it not just in the book, but also if the child is brought to an art museum.
It’s a lovely book, more about observation than actual story, but still wonderfully adorable.

This is a delightful little book about a mouse that works as an art restorer, able to climb into the paintings to make his job easier. . . so basically he’s the Gumby of the visual arts. Obviously a way to get small children into the appreciation of art, it succeeds magnificently. It also pushes the “You can be anything you want to be” notion by having Artemous not just be a restorer, but also enjoying plenty of pastimes in the paintings, such as playing a musical instrument, dancing ballet, going to the opera, even helping a royal child with her dress, all done in a fun matter that kids should enjoy greatly. At the end there’s a list of the examples used, a selection that includes modern art as well as famous works throughout the history of painting. Just delightful in every way.
4.5 pushed up to 5/5