by Moe Zilla

Created on: February 23, 2010

Jon Agee discovered he had a famous fan when he'd published his fourth children's book. "One of the first people to see it and give it the thumb's up – literally, hot off the press – was Maurice Sendak," Agee reveals on his web site. ("We bumped into each other at the printers…") That was 1988, and Agee's book was "The Incredible Painting of Felix Clousseau." But his story is set even further back in the past - in a glorious 19th-century in France.

"In Paris, the Royal Palace was holding its Grand Contest of Art," the book begins, introducing a short painter with a grey beard who silently joins the competition. Stuffy artists in black overcoats wince at the painting by Felix Clousseau.  (Instead of depicting the king on his throne or on horseback, Clousseau simply submitted a drawing of a duck!) But those artists changed their opinion after something magical happens. The duck in Clousseau's painting starts to quack - and then walks away!

"It was the first time in history that a painting had quacked," Agee writes. And of course, Clousseau's painting is awarded the Royal Grand Prize…

But the book is even funnier because of Clousseau's cartoony illustrations. He's expertly created simple drawings with bold outlines and a handful of colors, so that even when he's depicting a realistic setting, he's doing it with a delightfully simple cartoon. It gives the funny events even more impact, and gives his story a charming tone. It reminds me of Little Toot travel adventures, or the jaunty orange drawings in M. Sasek's "This is San Francisco." And one illustration - showing Clousseau in jail - seems to bear a deliberate resemblance to H. A. Rey's jail drawing in Curious George.

"Wherever there was a Clousseau canvas, there was chaos," Agee writes. Whether it's a painting of a snake or a painting of a volcano, the paintings come to life and antagonize their owners. But eventually one of Clousseau's troublesome paintings also saves the day - when a thief tries to steal the king's crown!  (Fortunately, the crown was underneath a painting Clousseau had drawn - of a vigilant and relentless guard dog…) And the book ends with Clousseau as a hero - returning to his studio.  But Agee saves his trickiest joke for the book's final illustration.

Clousseau doesn't just return back to his studio.  He walks back into a painting!

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