The legions of fans who over the years have enjoyed dePaola’s autobiographical picture books will welcome this longer gathering of reminiscences.

An author’s note explains Mary’s eccentricities-melting silverware, painting on indoor carpeting-and the controversy of her neighborhood’s refusal to allow public visitors into her garden of odd, fantastical creatures.Ī friendly chronicle of an offbeat artist.

That driftwood becomes an antler on Mary’s huge, sculpted creature. In one example, Mary and her dogs discover “a marvelous creature washed up on the sand.” The purple, wavy-limbed object looks enormous-until the following spread reveals it to be a small, beige piece of driftwood. Mary’s sculptures vary in scale, so the illustrations play with scale too. Some of the illustration has a stylized folk-art feel, blocky and angular in mild colors, while Mary’s dogs have rounder lines. The Küglers use watercolor, digital painting, collage and vintage papers to portray Mary’s world and sculptures. Collecting driftwood, feathers and rocks, Mary employs her building skills-mixing cement with beach sand, as her father showed her, and spreading it over a support of wood, wire and piping-to create a massive, playful-looking creature.

She helps her father build a house on Lake Michigan’s shore and realizes that she loves to create things with her hands. 'An appealing and kid-friendly introduction to Nohl's art.A portrait of Wisconsin folk artist Mary Nohl (1914-2001) and her sculptures.Īs a child, “hile the other girls cooking classes,” Mary learns woodworking and makes an airplane. 'The authors embellish their picture-book biography of artist Mary Nohl (1914-2001) with touches of whimsy.The illustrations-digital collages of scratchy, affectionate paintings on an assortment of papers-mirror this sense of wonder.' 'Chalky mixed-media collages are punctuated by items of significance.a quiet homage.' 'The Küglers use watercolor, digital painting, collage and vintage papers to portray Mary's world and sculptures.A friendly chronicle of an offbeat artist.' Children will delight in the whimsy of the art pieces and their placement in the garden as well as the participation of Mary's dogs, Sassafras and Basil, in the discovery process.' 'The illustrations combine watercolor with digital painting, collage, and vintage papers, resulting in a soft palette and an uncomplicated, accessible drawing style. 'This quiet, engaging offering celebrates the artist's vision and her idiosyncratic work.'

In Mary's Garden by Tina Kugler