The Swimmers

In the later part of his life, wheelchair-bound and unable to fully take care of himself, Henri Matisse began to experiment with collage and paper cutouts as a way of continuing to make art. Sometimes representational and sometimes abstract, his bold, simple shapes became iconic of his style, and his collages remain some of his best-loved work. In Ana Bianchi's latest children's book - part biographical vignette, part activity guide - kids will read first of Matisse's life and the circumstances that led to his paper cut-outs, then get a step-by-step guide to creating their own Matisse-style collages. Bianchi's versatile illustrations capture the fierce color and compositional nuances of Matisse's work, and her simple, engaging text teaches useful art terms like composition, palette, crop and sketch while outlining the artist's methods in a way that's sure to inspire young artists to create their own collage masterpieces.