Remy and Lulu

June 23, 2014
Perhaps as a hat tip to their own collaboration—Harrison was once Hawkes’s intern—Hawkes (Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch) tells a story about two fictional artists who work together. Lovable, nearsighted Remy wears a baggy purple smock and bottle-bottom spectacles, and paints cubist-style portraits. “I paint the essence of a person, not their likeness,” he says, just before a disgruntled subject breaks a canvas over his head. Unbeknownst to the myopic Remy, his brilliant hound, Lulu, sneaks exquisite, sardonic portraits of the owners’ pets into the corners of Remy’s larger portraits; these miniatures are Harrison’s (Extraordinary Jane) work. When Remy gets a pair of proper glasses and realizes that Lulu’s work has been winning the praise he thought belonged to him, there’s a period of chilly alienation before the two reconcile. Hawkes’s artwork is characteristically sunny and lighthearted, while Harrison’s detailed miniatures, whose animal subjects are posed in elaborate period costumes, sit a bit uneasily atop Hawkes’s spreads. While the end result is thoroughly charming, they testify to some unwritten truth about the difficulty of reconciling two visual universes within the same book. Ages 4–9.

August 15, 2014
Behind every great painter there's a great painter who's a dog. Remy the portrait painter "snort[s], grumbl[es] and attack[s] the canvas with brushes full of dripping paint." He portrays "the essence of a person, not their likeness." Perhaps unsurprisingly, his works aren't popular, and he goes hungry-until Lulu comes along. She's a small, neat dog in a top hat who paints a portrait of the subject's pet in a low corner of each of Remy's canvases. Patrons exclaim "Such detail!" and "Such color!" and "What a likeness!"-but they are referring to Lulu's tiny animal portraits. Remy rises to fame. But one subject-an optometrist-gives Remy new spectacles, and suddenly he sees the truth. Lulu's been so modest that weak-sighted Remy had no idea Lulu was contributing to the art. Woe to Remy's dignity! "They rode home in silence," and Remy's palette dries out from disuse. The touching way they return to painting honors different artistic styles, though the whole premise also gently mocks Remy's poor eyesight. Funnier is the understated text about demure Lulu: " 'I...paint from here, ' Remy said, tapping his chest. 'Isn't that right, Lulu?' Lulu sniffed a potted plant." Hawkes' illustrations-full-bleed, framed or vignette-have a robust, painterly quality, while Lulu's miniatures by Harrison are so precise and fancy they're almost delightfully fussy. Readers will find themselves with their noses to the pages to observe and enjoy the stylistic variation. (Picture book. 5-8)

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Starred review from July 1, 2014

K-Gr 3-This is a delightful story that must be viewed and read several times to capture all of its wonderful details, humor, and charm. Remy is an artist who paints "the essence of a person, not their likeness," no doubt because of his very poor eyesight. Lulu is a Jack Russell-type dog who becomes Remy's traveling companion, but Lulu happens to be an artist as well. When Remy sets up his huge canvasses to paint a portrait, Lulu draws a miniature portrait down along the bottom of the canvas at Lulu height, but Lulu's subjects are the animals that each poser has with him or her. While Remy's portraits are quite abstract and usually integrate some of the pet's features into the image of the sitter, Lulu creates finely detailed portraitures of the pets with extravagant clothing reminiscent of their owner. The patrons are astonished at Lulu's talent, and the duo become solvent, as well as the talk of the town. It is only when one patron, an optometrist, gives Remy a new pair of spectacles that Remy "sees" why his popularity has taken a sharp upturn. The result is utter despondence until an invitation comes their way that gives both a new perspective. Reminiscent of Peggy Rathmann's Officer Buckle and Gloria (Putnam, 1995), the dog is the one with the crowd-pleasing talent, while the human remains oblivious for a time. Children and adults will enjoy giving the two types of paintings a close look and picking up the subtle humor in each. Hawkes has done the illustrations for the story, but Harrison is credited for creating Lulu's miniatures. The contrast of the two types of illustration is what make this book so clever.-Maggie Chase, Boise State University, ID

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2014
Grades K-3 In nineteenth-century Paris, Lulu the dog studies art with a great portraitist. Abandoned when the painter moves away, she joins Remy, an itinerant artist with poor eyesight but, as he says, clear vision. His subjects are often offended by his rather abstract portraits, in which he seeks to capture the person's essence rather than a likeness, but everyone praises the paintings after noticing Lulu's detailed, romanticized miniature portraits of their pets at the bottom of each canvas. Realizing that only Lulu's art is appreciated, Remy becomes despondent until he finds a patron who recognizes and celebrates his unique vision. The original story transports children to another time and place, while heightening their awareness of different approaches to painting. Hawkes' nicely composed acrylic paintings enlarge the well-paced narrative with vividly drawn characters and settings and witty details. In a suitably different style, Harrison contributes the amusing animal portraits purportedly painted by Lulu. An enjoyable picture book for reading aloud.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2015
Lulu is a clever little Parisian dog. Remy is an itinerant painter. Once the two join forces, Lulu's meticulous vignettes of Remy's sitters' pets, which she surreptitiously adds to Remy's paintings, delight his subjects--though not Remy. Lulu's canny taking-charge is amusing. Meanwhile, the three contrasting painting styles--Lulu's classic elegance (thanks to Harrison), Remy's turn-of-the-twentieth-century modernism, and Hawkes's own lively and painterly milieu--are inviting.

(Copyright 2015 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

September 1, 2014
Lulu, a lithe and clever little Parisian dog, used to live with a "great portrait painter," but now she's homeless. Remy, a hirsute itinerant painter, is also down on his luck. Even with his specs, Remy's eyesight is poor; thus, "I paint the essence of a person, not their likeness." Unfortunately, his impressionistic portraits don't please buyers; fortunately, unbeknownst to Remy, Lulu is an artist, too. Once the two join forces, Lulu's meticulous vignettes of Remy's sitters' pets, which she surreptitiously adds to Remy's paintings, delight his subjects: "Such detail! Such color!" Orders pour in and all goes well until, donning new glasses, Remy discovers what Lulu has done and quits painting in self-disgust. Lulu saves the day by returning Remy's old glasses--through which his true artistic vision is once again clear. Even those not quite ready to distinguish between literal and artistic vision, or to recognize visual references to such luminaries as Picasso and Monet, will be amused by Lulu's canny taking-charge. Meanwhile, the three contrasting painting styles--Lulu's classic elegance (which Harrison renders with notable humor), Remy's turn-of-the-twentieth-century modernism, and Hawkes's own lively and painterly milieu--together make an inviting and amusing introduction to the myriad possibilities of representational art. joanna rudge long

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)