Bonnie's Reviews > Behind the Canvas

I liked the book and the concept, especially since I love and make art. So the idea that creating art is a special kind of magic is fun and intriguing.

While visiting a museum, Claudia is startled when she sees a boy moving around in a painting. She learns there is a whole world that is created made of magic and oil paint. An evil witch without the creative seeing ability tries to trap people in the world behind the canvas to feed off their wills to prolong her own life, and she is seeking Claudia. A whole crazy adventure ensues through the creations born of artists' works. Some of them might be difficult to follow if young readers are not familiar with the works of art, but the way the artist explains things in a quirky, supposed-art-guide entry made it fun and interesting. I think kids would be interested in famous art pieces after this fun introduction, but would definitely need to look up the pieces to understand the visual the author is trying to create!