A Boy Named Giotto
by Paolo Guarnieri
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Book Summary Information
Author: Paolo GuarnieriIllustrator: Bimba Landmann
Translator: Jonathan Galassi
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1999-10-21
ISBN: 0374309310
Number of pages: 32
Reading Level: Ages 4-8
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Book Reviews of A Boy Named Giotto
Book Review: Nice book to read when learning about Giotto
Summary: 4 Stars
Beautiful illustrations accompany the story of Giotto, an eight-year-old shepherd-boy who had a natural talent for drawing. The story begins with a daydreaming Giotto, a sheep-shepherd boy, who draws on anything he can find such as rocks and in dirt, and with anything he can find, such as chalk or charcoal. His talents go unnoticed by his family and he is scolded for neglecting his shepherding duties, which at one point in the story, resulted in losing a lost sheep. He meets the painter, Cimabue, and learns that there is such a thing as paint and the people paint on wood panels just for the sake of making art. Cimabue asks Giotto's parents to let him become his apprentice and they refuse. Giotto is kept shepherding sheep at home for seven more years, and then his parents let him receive art instruction from Cimabue. Cimabue teaches Giotto how to paint a fresco (not an easy task) and as the book closes, we see Giotto going on to start a new assignment: painting the fresco at a church dedicated to Saint Francis. The story ends there, nothing more is said of how his life turned out and of the many wonderful works of art he produced, or that this sheep shepherd born in poverty ended up a wealthy man.
Some parents may not like that the parents come across in a negative way when they refuse to let their eight year old boy leave them to go into apprenticeship with Cimabue. The father states he wants him to stay home to work as a shepherd (with no positive messages about the value of a child helping their family make a living). The mother says she feels he is too young, and for some reason, it comes across in an overly protective way. I got the impression that the parents were being stupid not to let their very talented son leave for an apprenticeship at age eight. Nothing is said to indicate that the next seven years that he remained with his family to work and mature was a good thing. In other words this is not portrayed as a positive work ethic/helping the family type of situation. Another moral issue that a parent may take with this story is that Giotto meets Cimabue when he sneaks out of his house after being grounded as punishment for losing a sheep; Giotto's entire future was changed for the better as the result of not respecting his father's authority. I mention these, as I know some parents will take issue with these moral issues.
This is a wonderful story, especially for the message that young children can have natural talents that can be valued by people, and that if natural talent is combined with further training, wonderful works of art, and fame, may be achieved. The illustrations are just beautiful. I was disappointed that the beginning of the story didn't even state the time period or location. Since this is a true story why not have the opening sentence contain the place and time that this happened? Children who don't know anything (yet) about Giotto will have no clue as to the time period that this is taking place in, or where. Perhaps it would be best if the child receive some background information about Giotto before they read or hear this book read aloud. Since the book does not contain any reproductions of Giotto's work, I suggest following up by showing the child(ren) some of his actual work (some can be viewed on the internet for free). Usually nonfiction books like this are followed by an afterward or some author's notes containing more detailed factual information that the parent or teacher can read and then discuss with the child(ren). Unfortunately this book does not provide that. For these reasons I give the book 4 stars instead of 5.
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