Author/Illustrator: Laurence AnholtFirst Published: 1998Anholt explores a season in Pablo Picasso's life - the summer of 1953 when he focussed on Sylvette David, the girl with a ponytail.While Anholt explores the art of Picasso and it's many forms, he doesn't focus on his (rather turbulent) life. Instead the story becomes about Sylvette's personal growth, and finding "the key" to her own doors, talking about her past, revealing her secrets, and becoming an artist in her own right.Lydia Corbett's...

Writes books that involve famous painters in a way that is exciting and interesting for kids.

Brilliant weaving of actual Picasso artworks and clever illustrations that has a few shreds of fact about Pablo embedded within the story.

Another great children's story about a time in a famous artist's life. This is about Picasso and his year of drawing, painting and sculpting works based on a young girl. Story includes photo's and copies of some of his actual works. A great book for a study unit on Picasso.

I liked how this story introduces the reader to Picasso's various art styles. The book illustrates how Picasso began with realistic sketches of Sylvette and over a short time created very abstract images of her. It also introduces Picasso's sculpture which is less well known. In the back Lauren Anholt includes a brief biography of Picasso.

This is about the Summer Picasso spent in the south of France and he found his muse in Sylvette and her pony tail. He had just divorced his wife and was in France and found new inspiration in this girl. He painted her all summer and made many many drawings of her. She wanted to be an artist herself and he helped her. We do not get to see any of her paintings, but she did end up becoming an artist and her paintings are in galleries. I want to look her up. She is now known as Lydia Corbett.Picasso...

Sylvette and her friends were sitting chatting on the terrace in the sun when one of them remarked that the famous artist Picasso was staying right there in Vallauris. Sylvette, who was sitting closest to the wall of the terrace, had always wanted to become an artist and she reflected that under her bed she had a sketchbook full of her drawings that she kept locked in a suitcase and that nobody had seen.Suddenly right in front of her eyes a beautiful picture appeared above the terrace wall and h...

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) Spanish. Son of an art teacher. Output in every medium matched only by the extraordinary range of styles. Artistic pioneer. His studio was filled with interesting objects and junk, much of which became parts of his art. Met Sylvette in the South of France and during the summer of 1953 produced more than 40 images of The Girl with the Ponytail ending with the sculpture The Girl With the Key. Later 2 concrete sculptures of her as big as houses were built to his specificat...

3 stars! This book goes into Picasso’s work about the girl in the ponytail. It was very short and fun.

"Picasso and the Girl with a Ponytail" is a sweet story with lovely and quirky illustrations. That is enough to like the book. What makes me love it is how it introduces an artist, art history and an art style in a way that make them all feel accessible to the reader. Laurence Anholt has also written about Van Gogh and Degas. I will definitely be looking into adding those books to my son's library.

This children's book about Picasso, the world's most famous artist, is a fictionalized account of his platonic relationship with Sylvette David (later known as Lydia Corbett) who as an adolescent met Picasso in Paris, becoming his artistic muse for a time.

An interesting story that I didn't know before. My 7-year old loves this, and read it multiple times. It made me curious enough to look up Picasso's art from this period.

A sweet story, based on fact, of the friendship between Pablo Picasso and Sylvette David. She was his muse and out of this relationship came many famous pictures and scupltures known the world over. Sylvette was a budding artist, in her own right, and she was intrigued and in awe of Picasso's wondrous talent. Picasso and the Girl with a Ponytail: A Story About Pablo Picasso is a beautiful ode to a world-renowed artist with gorgeous illustrations, too!

Reading some of the other reviews, I think I'm in the minority here - but, I was really creeped out by this book. Picasso is a newly divorced 70 year old man who befriends and spends his entire summer alone in his studio with a teenage "muse"? And we want to write a children's book about it? I had really wanted to teach my children about Picasso's beautiful and memorable paintings. There are definitely lessons to teach from this book, I'm just not sure an appreciation of art is the one I'll star...

A great story about Picasso and his muse Sylvette. You can learn a lot about Picasso from this story. It leaves you wanting more Picasso. This stoty proves how art can change and move people. My girls and I love this book.

This book discusses the inspiration behind a full summer's worth of paintings by Picasso, and the girl model he painted. Notes at the end of the book explain that this girl became a successful artist herself later in life.

A patron clued me in to this marvelous series & I am in love! Not only do they have biographical info, but the illustrations are in the style of the subject! Wonderful!

Picked it up in the library to keep myself entertained while the kids were looking at other books. The book recounts the story of Picasso painting/sculpting portraits of the young shy girl Sylvette, who wanted to be an artist herself. The message of the book reminded me of Neil Gaiman's Make Good Art speech. Sometimes it feels like universe is tired of being patient and prefers to hit one with a sledgehammer.

I really love Laurence Anholt's books. They are accessible and make the artists come to life in a way that is very relevant to kids. I love how this particular book emphasizes the playfulness of Picasso and his art. Plus, Anholt's watercolors are just amazing!

Sylvette, a shy girl who secretly wants to be an artist, becomes a muse for Picasso and learns to be brave and bold through her friendship with the artist. Travel: London has a museum with Sylvette's art, Vallauris, France is the house that Picasso was living at when he met Sylvette.