CLAUDE MONET: THE PAINTER WHO STOPPED THE TRAINS

CLAUDE MONET: THE PAINTER WHO STOPPED THE TRAINS, by P.I. Maltbie, ill. by Jos. A. Smith (Abrams 2010). This nonfiction picture book tells the story of Claude Monet's winter at the Saint-Lazare train station in Paris, where he created an innovative series of paintings of trains arriving and leaving.

The text is engaging, informative, and sometimes amusing. The art is occasionally whimsical and yet evokes the impressionist style, especially the scenes in the train station. CLAUDE MONET provides a fascinating look at an artist more known, perhaps, for water lilies than the products of industry. Paintings from the Saint-Lazare series can be found at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Harvard Art Museum.