Lewis, J. Patrick. The stolen smile. Illustrated by Gary Kelley. Mankato, Minn: Creative Editions, 2004. ISBN: 978-1568461922.
Author Website: http://www.jpatricklewis.com/
Illustrator Website: http://www.garykelleyonline.com/
Media: Pastel and Oil Paint
Use of Rhythm: (p. 3) “villain or victim? / Victor or vanquished?” / Savior or scoundrel?”
Use of Simile: (p. 20) “scratched their heads like monkeys.”
Use of Alliteration: (p. 3) “villain or victim? / Victor or vanquished?” / Savior or scoundrel?” (p. 5) “depths of delirium,”
Use of Metaphor: (p. 5) “I am drowning in gifts, flowers, tokens of love,”
Curricular Connection: Visual and Performing Arts Content Standards, Grades 9-12, 1.0 Artistic Perception: Processing, Analyzing, and Responding to Sensory Information Through the Language and Skills Unique to the Visual Arts Students perceive and respond to works of art, objects in nature, events, and the environment. They also use the vocabulary of the visual arts to express their observations.
Annotation: Author J. Patrick Lewis imagines the mindset of thief Vicenzo Peruggia, who stole the Mona Lisa in 1911. Peruggia walks readers through his daring theft and imagines the reactions of the world to the loss of da Vinci’s famous work.
Personal Reaction: 2011 Children’s Poet Laureate J. Patrick Lewis offers an interesting perspective on the real theft of Leonardo da Vinci’s painting, the Mona Lisa, from the Louvre Museum in 1911. Lewis offers the thief, Vicenzo Peruggia, as a narrator for this picture book for older readers. Reminiscing from his jail cell, Peruggia walks readers through the details of his bold undertaking, explaining that he actually used to work for the Louvre and had personally installed the protective glass over the Mona Lisa. Peruggia’s reason for the theft is to return Italian da Vinci’s masterpiece to Italy. When Peruggia attempts to sell the painting to an Italian collector, readers learn more about Peruggia’s unstable state of mind. Peruggia is surprised to learn that da Vinci personally sold the painting to the King of France and that Italy does share Peruggia’s sense of rightful ownership of the famous smiling lady. Gary Kelley’s illustrations are well-executed and worthy of a book about fine art. Kelley’s close up illustration of the Louvre director’s shocked face upon discovering the theft covers a full page and requires no text (p. 12). As museum employees search for the Mona Lisa, readers get a mini tour of the Louvre’s Oriental Art, Renaissance, sculpture and Egyptian galleries. My favorite illustration appears on pages 22 and 23 and shows a Parisian sidewalk café filled with café goers sipping coffee and reading newspapers which all show the theft as the front page story. Kelley’s paintings are fluid and full of color and shadows and the effect is lively and engaging. The end notes provide information about the Mona Lisa, the painting scene during the time of da Vinci, as well as an overview of the Louvre Museum and Uffizi Gallery.
