by Edward Ardizzone
David R. Godine, 2011. Unpaged. Picture Book.
Edward Ardizzone is a name to conjure with in Children's Literature, and this welcome reprint from the 1965 original tells the story of two young children whose father has thrown over the possibility of a comfortable living in business to become an artist. The children's mother is often worried as the family has to sell off the teaspoons and the clock to "tide them over" until the father finishes and sells his masterpiece. Unfortunately the father needs just one more tube of red paint to finish his masterpiece. He doesn't have money to buy more and the grouchy art supply store man won't extend credit. What to do? A surprise at the end involving a mysterious old gentleman from the Used Book Store makes for a happy resolution to the little family's problems. Children may not take to this book at first by themselves because of its sepia and black illustrations, but it would be a lovely read-aloud from a classic tradition.
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