Gustav Glows with Gold

Gustav Glows with Gold (Little Pink Dogs) Kathy Creamer & Patricia Ward PB RRP $24.99 9780645418477

Reviewed by Karen Hendriks

Kathy Creamer is a widely published award-winning children’s picture book writer and illustrator. Her work has been published by Oxford University Press, Reed International, and many other publishing houses.

Patricia Ward is an illustrator who loves exploring colour and playing with positive and negative spaces. Her work is vibrant and whimsical and has an underlying sense of a narrative.

Gustav Glows with Gold is a creative non-fiction picture book about Gustav Klimt, a famous Austrian artist, who adored using glittering gold leaf to enhance the colours, patterns, and form of his artwork. Inspired by the beauty of Byzantine art and by his father’s intricate work as a goldsmith, Gustav decided to use gold leaf in his paintings.

Kathy Creamer’s opening sentence transcends time and takes a young reader back to Vienna and into the magical studio of Gustav. Her words evoke emotion and imagery and place with alliteration, carefully chosen verbs, and lyrical language. Gleaming and twinkling, tiny flecks of golden fire floated through the air in Gustav Klimt’s art studio in Vienna. Just as Gustav’s focus was on gold, so is Creamer’s. Her words capture the essence of the artist but also his enraptured focus on the colour gold. The elusive gold leaf specks make the whole book feel magical as every spread takes a young reader into a Gustav’s special world of artistic wonder.

Just as Gustav’s works glowed with gold, so too did, Gustav and his studio. His beard, hair, face, hands and painter’s smock would shimmer with wisps of golden yellow flame. There is a simplicity and yet a beauty in the words Creamer uses. I love the spread where Creamer describes the different golds. Gold. Glittering gold. Yellow Gold, Rose gold. Warm gold. Burnished gold. Textured gold. The heart of Gustav shines with Kathy Creamer’s words. He hardly dared breathe in case a puff of air gave the golden wisp flight, and it would float away like an elusive butterfly.

Patricia Ward’s illustrative style shines out from the stunning golden front cover which immediately draws attention. The exquisite detail to Gustav, his cats and his use of gold leaf beams out for all to see. The first endpaper captures the flight and magic of the goldleaf and the last endpaper features Gustav’s studio and golden art. The standout feature of Ward’s illustrations is the careful attention paid to detail. The visual narrative adds layers and meaning to the story. Gustav’s cats were treasured and feature as additional silent characters.

The gold leaf dances everywhere. Without words mentioning the artworks, the visuals do the talking showing what they looked like and how some were created. The sunlight streaming in the studio and the whimsical quality of the illustrations really makes this book feel magical. Gustav is depicted as kind and quite shy and his face speaks volumes to a reader. The touches of arrays of paintbrushes and shelving really bring Gustav’s world to life.

Gustav Glows with Gold is a creative non-fiction picture book that is a wonderful read for children 4-8 years.  Those children interested in art and biographies will really enjoy this book. The topic is universal and ageless so the book is timeless and adds to its appeal.