The Mona Lisa Caper - Hardcover

Rick Jacobson and Laura Fernandez are an award-winning design team and illustrators in their own right. Their work appears in corporate and private collections as well as in those of the French Government and The Royal Geographical Society in London, England. Together they operate a studio, the Jacobson Fernandez Partnership. They often work as a team on joint projects, including their thirteen published books. Rick and Laura live in Toronto with their three children.

Grade 1-4–This is the second title published within a year to cover a subject previously untapped in picture books: the 1911 theft of Leonardo da Vinci's iconic painting right from the wall of the Louvre. The first was J. Patrick Lewis's The Stolen Smile (Creative Co, 2004). This current title puts the story into the famous mouth of La Gioconda herself–a device that holds promise, but does not sustain interest throughout the lengthy narrative. The descriptions and emotions become somewhat repetitive, and more embellishment is required than in the earlier title. Fernandez and Jacobson incorporate the sfumato technique in their watercolor scenes in imitation of the master's signature style. Their soft-edge paintings and decorative cameos are atmospheric and appealing, and the original painting is reproduced in the final scene, accompanied by endnotes describing the image, artist, and thief. The look is quite different than the full bleeds and spreads employing the strong colors and tilted perspectives of a Cubist Paris in The Stolen Smile. Unfortunately, Mona Lisa consistently misspells the name of the thief (Vincenzo Peruggia) as Perugia, and the director of the Ufizzi (Giovanni Poggi) as Giovanne Poggie. Libraries with a comprehensive art collection may wish to own both titles; most will want to pass on this one.–Wendy Lukehart, Washington DC Public Library
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