Jacques-Henri Lartigue: Boy with a Camera

Various themes thread through this photobiography of Lartigue's (1894-1986) early years: the boy's technical mastery of a relatively new medium; his sense of whimsy; the pleasures of growing up in a privileged French family with plenty of time and money to spend on the emerging technologies that gave sparkle to the Belle Epoque. Early aviators and motorists, urban strollers, backyard acrobats, and home inventors are captured with remarkable precision, often in mid-action while trying out some new contraption. The gentle humor of Lartigue's images is echoed in Cech's graceful narrative, which is heavily derived from the photographer's own diaries. But while the tastefully spare layout is well suited to the artist's classical style and allows ample space for the reader to ponder some gravity-defying poses, the murky sepia-toned reproductions don't do Lartigue justice. The author's failure to direct the newly curious to Lartigue's diaries is also a serious oversight. Adults may enjoy the nostalgic atmosphere, but children could use more down-to-earth details, such as how the the gifted amateur actually produced the arresting images here. Ages 6-9. (Oct.)