Sandy’s Circus
A Story About Alexander Calder
by Tanya Lee Stone
illustrated by Boris Kulikov
Viking, 2008. 36 pages.
Here’s another delightful picture book biography. It gives you a feel for what the artist has done and makes you want to know more. The story is told on a level that will intrigue both children and adults. I especially enjoy the playful illustrations.
“There once was an artist named Alexander Calder. Only he didn’t call himself Alexander. And he didn’t call the things he made art.”
Tanya Lee Stone and Boris Kulikov beautifully capture the inventive, experimental quality of Sandy Calder’s art. They show how he playfully created a moving, working circus out of wire. His art was more than a static display to look at. It was a show where things happened.
The author tells us that “even the mobiles that hang over baby cribs would not exist without Calder.” This is the story of a man who brought a sense of play into his life’s work.