Papa Chagall, Tell Us a Story

The long-running Anholt’s Artists series of picture-book biographies expands with a tribute to Marc Chagall, in which the artist responds to his grandchildren’s repeated requests for a story by recalling his childhood, growing passion for painting, and successes and challenges as an artist. Anholt’s loose and airy paintings picture Chagall as a kindly, attentive grandparent, whose cheerful demeanor only flags when he recalls participating in an exhibition arranged “just so people could laugh at us” and needing to leave Europe for America (an endnote goes into detail about the Nazi persecution that sent Chagall and his family fleeing for the U.S.). Reproductions of several Chagall works bolster this intimate introduction. Ages 4–8. (Apr.)