The Great Art Treasure Hunt

By Doris Kutschbach
Published: September 16, 2013

Why we chose this book:
One of our favorite regular outings is to Worcester Art Museum; T loves playing seek and find games there. That's the first part of what went into the selection of this title. The second part is that I love Hieronymus Bosch's work, so I was inclined toward whatever was under this cover! Prestel Publishing provided a copy for review.

Mom's Review

An interactive and fun way to introduce children to various styles of art.

What I like about The Great Art Treasure Hunt is the variety of both art and activities. Works include Bosch's Garden of Eden, Australian aboriginal art, a medieval tapestry, and Klimt's Woman in Gold, to name a few. All activities are variations of seek and find; targets include colors, objects, and shapes. Some of the items we have been able to find, others we haven't (there is an answer key in the back). Although Prestel lists the appropriate age as 6+, I found that a good portion of it was manageable for T. In fact, we took the book to Worcester Art Museum with us and looked for paintings similar to those in the book. He loved it! This is a book that we will be returning to again and again, taking it with us to the museum, and appreciating it more and more as he grows.

Note: If you are looking for the title/artist info as you go through the book, it's in the back. It took me the entire book to figure that one out!

Son's Review
(Age: 3 and 1/2 years old)

Mom: Can you tell me about the book?

Son: Yes. There was a little seaweed game, and it was really hard to see which fishy goed to which seaweed. It was a little spooky because underwater is where sea monsters live and sea snakes.

Mom: Oh my goodness!

Son: Those are in the cyclopes! So there's Skylla and Charybdis.
(He likes books about Odysseus and the monsters he encountered.)

Mom: Did you see anything really interesting in this book?

Son: Yes, that a house was on fire.

Mom: And what happened?

Son: People are getting water to put out the fire.

Mom: Were there any games other than the seaweed-fishy game?

Son: Yes there are, and next time we read it, I'll show you.

Mom: Did you have a favorite game?

Son: It was the fishy one.

Mom: Can you tell me about the games?

Son: They aren't the same. So I don't know much about games, but if they come with directions then I know.

Mom: What kind of directions did these games have?

Son: They came with picture directions. You have to tell or see things in the picture. There are a lot of different games in that book.

Mom: Did you have a favorite picture? Why?

Son: The snow. I like playing in snow.

Mom: Would you like to see any of these pictures in real life?

Son: Yes. The Eiffel Tower. I'm gonna get up there! It gonna be the greatest trip ever in the world!

Mom: What's the most important thing to know about this book?

Son: That that fountain is crazy!
(Bosch's pink fountain/plant on the cover.)

Mom: Whom would you recommend to?

Son: Cousin G! Because that picture has a little bit of orange and G likes orange!

Finding similar paintings at WAM. T is finding a
picture similar to the snow picture.

Excerpt taken from Prestel Publishing's website.