An Abundance of Light: A Story of Matisse in Morocco

by Lauren Stringer, Lauren Stringer (Illustrator)

Overview

Henri Matisse searches for light and inspiration in Morocco in the year 1912 in this vibrant picture book biography telling the story of a formative experience in the painter’s life.

Henri Matisse loves to paint colors bright and bold and light. But during a cold, rainy winter in Paris, everything and everyone, including Henri, feels cloudy and dark. Henri can’t paint. Following the advice of a good friend, Henri packs his bags and a trunk full of canvases, paints, brushes, and inks and travels to Tangier, Morocco, hoping to find an abundance of light. But when he arrives, Tangier is suffering its coldest, rainiest winter in years! What will Henri do?

This illuminating picture book biography introduces readers to the genius and inspiration of Henri Matisse as he discovers that sometimes the darkest shadows bring the brightest light.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781534493636
Publisher:	Beach Lane Books
Publication date:	08/26/2025
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	48
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Lauren Stringer has illustrated many celebrated picture books, including Deer Dancer by Mary Lyn Ray; The Princess and Her Panther by Wendy Orr; Scarecrow and Snow, both written by Cynthia Rylant; as well as her own Winter Is the Warmest Season, When Stravinsky Met Nijinsky, The Dark Was Done, and An Abundance of Light. She lives with her family in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Visit her at LaurenStringer.com.

Editorial Reviews

2025-05-16
After a trip to Morocco, Henri Matisse (1869-1954) finds his despair lifting, and he begins to paint again.

The artist is in a deep funk. “Everything and everyone [feels] cloudy. Everything and everyone [feels] dark.” He travels to Tangier, searching for abundant sunlight, only to discover more rain; once more, he feels “cloudy and dark.” As the sun returns, Stringer’s black-and-white illustrations give way to the bold colors favored by Matisse, who finds inspiration in the old Medina, the city’s markets and gardens, and memories of his family’s colorful rugs and painted teacups. Stringer periodically repeats that Henri grew up in a “black and gray town” in France, which further heightens the moment when he experiences the “abundance of light” in Tangier that resurrects his desire to paint again. Buoyed by the sun, Henri paints views from his window and portraits of locals including a Rifi warrior (one of the Amazigh people who live in the Rif Mountains). A combination of pastel, charcoal, gouache, and digital media on watercolor paper, Stringer’s energetic illustrations convey her subject’s exuberance; her vivid spreads feature aspects of Moroccan culture such as babouches (pointed yellow slippers), haik (a traditional women’s garment), and ouds (a kind of musical instrument). The appended visual glossary will help readers home in on these details of Moroccan life.

A sophisticated look at painting, seen through the eyes of a renowned artist. (sources, further information about Matisse, archival photo, author’s note)(Picture-book biography. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews