Claude Monet was a French artist who is now famous across the world for his beautiful paintings. Monet’s painting style was different from other painters at the time, as he liked to study the way light changed a scene during the day.

He’d find a lovely spot in front of a lake, on a beach, in a garden or in front of his own lily pond. Often he would have more than one canvas ready to fill as he painted all through the day. Once the sun had gone down, he would have several different paintings of the same scene, but with the different light and time of that day.

This was difficult as daylight never stays still, travelling through a forest, across a river or an early morning sky – but light was what captured Claude Monet. A little French town called Giverny was where Claude Monet decided to live his life and he worked on his paintings and his garden, the combination producing beautiful art that is still famous today.

Rain, hail or shine, Monet loved the tricks light played and loved trying to capture it – until one day he decided to just enjoy it instead.

A full colour hardback picture book sharing Claude Monet’s love of light that gave the world his beautiful paintings. Looking through the story again, I found many of his inspirations within the pages – this will be a fun activity for a classroom study or just appreciation of this artist:

Which pages of the picture book were inspired by Claude Monet himself? What are those paintings called and can you find out any more about them?

Look at the paintings and how Monet captured the light of the day, causing shadows, dappling a plethora of greens in the treetops, and lighting up a field of flower’s true colours.

I can recognise some of Claude Monet’s work when I see it, but further research after reading this picture book showed me how long his career stretched and how truly talented he was.

Author – Jenny Gahan

Illustrator – Patricia Ward

Picture Book

(2023, Exisle Publishing, Artist, Art, Painting, Claude Monet, Frenchman, Giverny, Lily pond, Gardens, Paints, Light, Shadow, Colour, Multiple Canvas’, Historical, Biographical, Life Story in Art, Non Fiction)