Book Review: *Artsy-Fartsy* by Karla Oceanak and Kendra Spanjer

Artsy-Fartsy written by Karla Oceanak, illustrated by Kendra Spanjer

Back-of-the-book blurb:  Ten-year-old Aldo lives with his family in Colorado. He’s not athletic like his older brother, he’s not a rock hound like his best friend, but he does like bacon. And when his artist grandmother, Goosy, gives him a sketchbook to “record all his artsy-fartsy ideas” during summer vacation, it turns out Aldo is a pretty good cartoonist.

She is Too Fond of Books’ review:  Aldo Zelnick is the 10-year-old star of a new graphic novel series for middle-grade readers; Artsy-Fartsy, the first book in the series, introduces us to Aldo’s world – his family, friends, and neighbors.  Karla Oceanak delivers an entertaining story full of humor, true-to-life characters, and a bit of a mystery.  Spanjer’s accompanying illustrations complement the storyline with literal characters sketches (including Goosy, Aldo’s free-spirited grandmother, and Timothy, his sport-loving older brother; check out the character gallery at the Aldo Zelnick website).  Take a look at all the detail on the cover, it’s made to look like a real sketchbook, complete with doodles, duct tape to hold it together, a binder clip, and a produce sticker from an apple.

I’ll admit that I was a bit concerned that there might be some bathroom humor in the book, with a title like Artsy-Fartsy.  Fear not, there’s nothing offensive!  In fact, artsy-fartsy is one of the fifty words beginning with the letter A that Aldo introduces to his readers.  They’re used naturally in the storyline, not forced to fit, and are included in a fun illustrated glossary in the back pages of the book.  According to Aldo, artsy-fartsy means:

artistic, creative.  Sometimes when people call someone artsy-fartsy, they mean he or she is trying to show off by being artistic.  But Goosy told me she thinks artsy-fartsy just means being creative and having fun with it.

Aside from Goosy, another of Aldo’s mentors is his neighbor Mr. Mot, “a word guy,” according to Aldo.  Mr. Mot plays checkers with Aldo, and “likes to mix in his fancy words with the regular ones” as they play.  He encourages Aldo to be true to himself, and I do think Aldo has a strong sense of self-confidence.  He doesn’t think any less of his artistic abilities than Timothy’s athletic abilities, but that “everyone is artsy-fartsy, each in our own way.”  Yay, Aldo!

Three people in my family read the book – my 7-year-old daughter, 12-year-old son, and 40-something Mom; we all got something different from it:  daughter enjoyed new vocabulary and word games (goodbye in six languages, pangrams for typing practice), son enjoyed an artistic protagonist (like him), Mom enjoyed giving it her stamp of approval.  We’re all looking forward to the next book, beginning with B, it’s Bogus!

FTC disclosure: review copy provided by the publisher.