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  • The Sleeping Gypsy by Mordicai Gerstein
  • Elizabeth Bush
Gerstein, Mordicai The Sleeping Gypsy; written and illus. by Mordicai Gerstein. Holiday House, 2016 [32p]
ISBN 978-0-8234-2142-8 $16.95
Reviewed from galleys R 4-8 yrs

A woman with black skin and flowing lavender hair, clad in a striped robe and possessing only a water jar, a stick, and a stringed instrument, lies asleep on an expanse of sand, oblivious to both the full moon and the pacing lion that seem to be watching her. Gerstein invites his picture-book audience to join a little girl in pondering nineteenth-century Henri Rousseau’s “The Sleeping Gypsy” on a [End Page 125] gallery wall: “Who is this girl in the painting? . . . Will the lion standing over her just sniff at her and wander off? Or will he eat her up?” To demonstrate how to begin to answer such inevitable questions, Gerstein offers a story of his own. In Gerstein’s imagination, Rousseau finds the imagery in a dream in which many animals congregate around the sleeper, and the dream version of Rousseau arrives to commit their actions to canvas while he listens to their nagging criticism. Only the threatening lion lingers beside the woman after Rousseau packs up his supplies and leaves, and only the lion makes the final cut when Rousseau awakens in the morning to complete his picture. Gerstein retains the vital motifs of “The Sleeping Gypsy” throughout this imaginative romp, and his added characters are convincingly consistent with the fantastical style of Rousseau’s work. This is a splendid springboard for prediction and interpretation of the painting itself and for engaging children with other cryptic works that beg to have a backstory supplied. A brief author’s note on Rousseau is included.

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