Gloria Bee's Big Picture Day

by Lin Hawthorne, Leigh Ann Van Fossan (Illustrator)

Overview

When the incredibly imaginative creative artist Gloria Bee discovers that her favorite paint brush is missing, she fears her plan to make beautiful art today is ruined. But then she finds a solution. Frolicking with her dog named "Dog," Gloria Bee starts to take pictures on her camera to capture memories and scenes she plans to paint later, once she finds her paintbrush.

Along her paintbrush-finding journey, Gloria Bee and Dog end up on a colorful and fun-filled outdoor adventure. Meanwhile, her paintbrush is a lot closer than she knows. Gloria Bee soon discovers that the artistic magic and creativity was not in her paintbrush at all, it was inside her all along.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781960492029
Publisher:	Three Plus One Publishing
Publication date:	09/20/2023
Series:	Gloria Bee , #1
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	11.10(w) x 8.70(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years

About the Author

Lin Hawthorne has written humor and short stories her whole life. She enjoys a not-so-quiet life with her husband and four outspoken kids in Arizona. At night when the desert glow fades, she is inspired to turn life's moments into book magic.

Driven by a desire to encourage early independence in kids, she writes to infuse grace, fun and positivity into everyday tasks- tools moms can use to develop character in their children. Her mission is to create a series of humorous children's books written to build relationships and foster meaningful conversations about responsibility as kids grow.

Leigh Ann Van Fossan took an oil painting class at age 12 and never looked back . She was a cover artist with Art Voices Magazine, and was featured at the SPECTRUM MIAMI art fair with the Artbox Gallery of Switzerland. Her oil paintings are collected in the US and abroad. Leigh Ann earned her BA in Fine Arts and her MA in Education. She blends her love for art with her love of childhood wonder and it was only a matter of time before she put it to work in the form of illustration.

Editorial Reviews

2023-05-09
A young girl is poised to paint, but she can’t find her heirloom paintbrush in Hawthorne’s illustrated children’s book.

There are many words to describe Gloria B. Wilson: enthusiastic, adventurous, dedicated, and most of all, artistic. She loves to paint scenes from her everyday life with her favorite brush, which has been passed down by female painters in her family for several generations. Without it, she doesn’t feel that she can make art at all. One day, Gloria is ready to complete her at-home art gallery when she realizes she’s lost the heirloom art tool: “How in the WORLD am I going to create my art and finish my gallery if I don’t have my favorite paintbrush?” she frets. It isn’t long until she concocts a plan to take her trusty camera and her pet dog (named Dog) around town, retracing her steps as she searches for the lost item. She investigates a bird’s nest, a hill, and a marina; as she explores, young readers will enjoy spotting the paintbrush in illustrator Van Fossan’s painterly backgrounds, always just beyond Gloria’s notice. It may be hidden in a bird’s nest, for example, or in the clutches of a shiny red crab. The protagonist’s quest ends unexpectedly with a touch of tongue-in-cheek humor that hints that her adventures aren’t over yet. She effectively learns that a lot of good can come from a bad situation and that her artistic powers are not diminished by the lack of her usual tool. This is a story that relies heavily on the illustrations, which feature plot points that the text doesn’t, such as Gloria’s losing the paintbrush because she was playing fetch with Dog. Van Fossan’s cartoon art style echoes that of a child’s with some refinements, much like Gloria’s own art. Gloria is depicted with brown skin; the few other human characters, in a photo or in person, have a range of skin tones.

A fun, layered work with a gentle message about learning artistic flexibility.

Kirkus Reviews