This kid-friendly picture book biography celebrates the irrepressible individuality of Surrealist artist Salvador Dalí.Salvador Dalí just couldn't help being himself. When he was little, he wasn't like the other children; he was a daydreamer who liked to play pretend. When he grew up, he became an artist, but he didn't want to make art that looked like everyone else's. He became the most famous painter of his time after he made a picture of melting clocks. He liked to do wild, attention-grabbing things: He drove a fancy car stuffed with 1,000 pounds of cauliflower. He gave a speech inside a deep-sea diving suit. And he took his pet ocelot Babou to lunch at snooty restaurants. He designed lollipop wrappers in exchange for free candy, a lobster phone that really worked, and a hat made out of a shoe! Here's the true story of the one and only Salvador Dalí, an artist who never stopped being himself.
On sale: February 9, 2021
Age: 4-8 years
Grade: Preschool - 3
Page count: 40 Pages
ISBN: 9781984816580
Reading level: Lexile: AD800L | Fountas/Pinnell: P
Amy Guglielmo is an artist, an arts educator, and an arts advocate. She and Brett Helquist have collaborated on one previous picture book,
Cezanne's Parrot. She has co-authored the picture books
Pocket Full of Colors: The Magical World of Mary Blair, winner of the Christopher Award;
How to Build a Hug: Temple Grandin and Her Amazing Squeeze Machine; and the Touch the Art series of novelty board books featuring famous works of art with tactile additions. She lives on Lake Champlain with her husband. Visit her at amyguglielmo.com and on Twitter @amyguglielmo.
Brett Helquist has illustrated many books for children, including the bestselling A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. He is also the illustrator of the picture books
Guitar Genius: How Les Paul Engineered the Solid-Body Electric Guitar and Rocked the World by Kim Tomsic and
Martina & Chrissie: The Greatest Rivalry in the History of Sports by Phil Bildner, among others. He lives with his family in Brooklyn, New York. Learn more at bretthelquist.com and on Instagram @bhelquist.
Praise for Just Being Dalí:"This paean to the avant-garde will resonate with those who march to their own drumbeats." —
Booklist
"A buoyant, kid-friendly distillation of Salvador Dalí’s life and art." —
Kirkus Reviews
"The irrepressible Dalí was as much a phenomenon as an artist, and this picture book biography wisely depicts him as both . . . Helquist’s familiar style of measured exuberance suits its subject well . . . An artist who focused on garnering attention and exploring absurdity has innate kid appeal." —
The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
"[Helquist's] colorful illustrations are playful and detailed . . . Engaging and imaginative." —
School Library Journal
"Entertaining . . . In swirling lines and jewel-like colors, Helquist’s oil on paper illustrations realistically depict Dalí’s carnivalesque world." —
Publishers Weekly
"Appropriately flamboyant." —
The Horn Book
