The Sleeping Gypsy

by Mordicai Gerstein

Overview

The characters in Henri Rousseau's The Sleeping Gypsy inspired Mordicai Gerstein to create an elegant, beautifully illustrated story about them.

A girl, alone in the desert, lies on the sand and sleeps. But she is not alone for long. A lizard, a rabbit, a turtle and other animals come to scrutinize her, and a lion leaps into the scene and claims her for his own.

A silhouette approaches from the distance. He introduces himself as Henri Rousseau, the dreamer of this dream, who plans to paint a picture of it. The animals pose for the artist but criticize his work with comments like "You've made my nose too big." So the artist removes complainers one by one from the painting, until only the girl and the lion remain.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780823421428
Publisher:	Holiday House
Publication date:	09/12/2016
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	9.20(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.60(d)
Lexile:	AD640L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Mordicai Gerstein is the author and illustrator of You Can't Have Too Many Friends!, The White Ram, A Book and The Man Who Walked Between the Towers, winner of the Caldecott Medal. He is also a painter, sculptor, designer and director of animated films.

Hometown:

Northhampton, Massachusetts

Date of Birth:

November 25, 1935

Place of Birth:

Los Angeles, California

Education:

Chouinard Institute of Art

Website:

http://www.mordicaigerstein.com

Editorial Reviews

08/22/2016
Henri Rousseau's painting "The Sleeping Gypsy" has a mysterious charm all its own. Gerstein (I Am Pan!) builds his story around it—and in it. The original painting shows a woman fast asleep in the desert with a lion standing over her. Gerstein rewinds to the start of her journey, showing her walking across the desert, then lying down at nightfall to sleep. Desert animals begin to nose about, and then a lion leaps through the group, ready to eat her. At that moment, a man wearing a beret steps out of the shadows. "I am Henri Rousseau," he says. "We are all in a dream. It is my dream." Setting up his easel, he takes charge: "You, Lion, stay just where you are and lift your tail a bit." When the other animals complain ("You've made my nose too big"), he summarily paints them out—all but the lion—then repairs to Paris to finish the canvas. Gerstein interprets Rousseau's painting style both faithfully and freely, and his story suggests that there's nothing inevitable about the famous works of art we think we know. Ages 4–8. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

* "Neatly conceived and wittily executed, Gerstein's story is an example of the visual thinking strategies often used when children visit museums."—The Horn Book, Starred Review
 
"Gerstein interprets Rousseau's painting style both faithfully and freely, and his story suggests that there's nothing inevitable about the famous works of art we think we know."—Publishers Weekly
 
"This is a splendid springboard for prediction and interpretation of the painting itself and for engaging children with other cryptic works that beg to have a backstory supplied."—The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
 
"In reproducing the artist's dream, Gerstein evokes the same surrealistic nature of the painting, but his pesky animals lighten the tone . . . this title offers children a story and information about an important Western artist and his work."—School Library Journal

From the Publisher

09/01/2016
PreS-Gr 2—Henri Rousseau was a self-taught artist who worked in France during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Often referred to as a naive painter, he is known for his lush, fanciful, and mysterious jungle scenes. One of his most haunting canvases, The Sleeping Gypsy, exhibits these characteristics but is set in the desert; a woman in a striped caftan lies asleep in the sand under a moonlit sky, a mandolin and a jug of water by her side, as a lion peers into her face. Here, Gerstein imagines a story about this painting; Rousseau dreams that he walks into the desert, sets up his equipment, and begins limning the menagerie of animals gathered around a slumbering woman, curious to know what she is doing, where she is headed, and what she is seeking. But one by one the artist erases the animals from his canvas when they comment negatively on his portrayals, until only the lion is left, guarding the figure as the morning sun rises. In reproducing the artist's dream, Gerstein evokes the same surrealistic nature of the painting, but his pesky animals lighten the tone (though this lion does bare his teeth). Like Samantha Friedman's What Degas Saw and Susan Goldman Rubin's Roy's House, this title offers children a story and information about an important Western artist and his work. VERDICT For large collections and anywhere books on art and artists are enjoyed and needed.—Daryl Grabarek, School Library Journal

School Library Journal

2016-08-02
Inspired by Rousseau’s painting of the same name, Gerstein imagines a dream that provoked the artist to create it.It’s unfortunate that a different book title highlighting the dream conceit, rather than reiterating the painting title’s problematic use of “gypsy,” wasn’t used. A prologue includes a black-and-white drawing of a child looking at the painting and explicitly says, “this book suggests some of the answers” to possible questions prompted by the mysterious scene. Although she appears neither childlike nor small, the text refers to the sleeping person as “a girl” and identifies her as a figure in Rousseau’s dream. Instead of answering questions that would put her story at the center (Why is she walking through the desert? What is her name? Where is she going?), the text and art introduce animals (including the lion that looms over the figure in the painting) that enter Rousseau’s dream and speculate about her. Then Rousseau enters his own dream, announcing that both girl and animals are there "so that I may paint a picture," which reinforces her marginalization. When Rousseau himself awakens, he, of course, paints his dream—minus all the animals but the lion, as they become so contentious he omits them. Gerstein ably captures the dreaminess of both his subject and the story, but although the participation of the animals is a child-friendly device, it serves to distract readers from the unanswered questions about the title character. A whimsical artistic meditation that perhaps needed more time on the drawing board. (Picture book. 5-8)

Kirkus Review

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