If da Vinci Painted a Dinosaur: 04/05/20

If da Vinci Painted a Dinosaur by Amy Newbold is a mashup between paleontology and art history. It begins with the supposition: what if Leonardo da Vinci painted dinosaurs instead of people? From there the book works through other periods of art and other artists, applying the same question.

Da Vinci, being the inspiration for the book gets two dinosaur pieces. There is the Vitruvian dinosaur and then there is Mona Lisa as a dinosaur, sitting before an ancient backdrop resplendent with a lava flow.

There is Matisse, Edgar Degas, Cassius Coolidge (of the poker playing dogs fame), Mary Cassatt, Baishi, Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, Andy Warhol, Franz Marc, Harrison Begay, Alma Thomas, Aaron Douglas, Mark Rothko, Lois Mailou Jones, Marguerite Zorach, and Edvard Munch included in the book. It's a fun jaunt through a variety of styles, artists and time periods, with the bonus of all these dinosaurs.

I found the book during my research for a summer art camp I taught on birds and dinosaurs. This ended up being the central focus to my approach when planning projects to do with the children.

Five stars

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