"Next Friday the school is having an art contest…"
It's a surprisingly angsty book, which seems to hide a secret second story. Author Peter Catalanotto is a talented illustrator whose works have appeared in over 40 books, according to Wikipedia, but he's only written 10 of them. So it seems especially significant that "Emily's Art" is a story about drawing. Even in grade school, two little girls face the pressure of competition - and the demands of their public.
The grade-school art contest brings in the principal's mother as a judge - but only because her cousin is married to an artist. Her face lights up and she gushes about the amazing colors and the detail in Emily's painting, pronouncing it "absolutely exquisite." But there's just one problem - the judge thinks it's a rabbit, when the picture is really of Emily's dog Thor. When Emily's teacher - Ms. Fair - points out the distinction, the judge's opinion suddenly changes. "I was attacked by a dog once! Nasty thing ripped my favorite dress. UUUUGHH! I hate dogs!"
Then she awards the prize to Emily's friend Kelly, for her drawing of a butterfly…
This is one of the only children's books I've seen that has a four-page "prologue" before the book's title page. In it "Ms. Fair" explains the contest to her students, but it also subtly shifts your perception of the story. After the title page, the story just lists out the many things that Emily draws. But that night she goes home, and can't sleep because she's busy staring at the ceiling, trying to figure out which is better - dogs or cats? Pink or purple? The prologue makes it clear that what she's troubled about is the concept of a contest.
Later in the book, Emily dreams she's at a picnic "and a giant hamburger was mad at her because she liked hot dogs better."
In the prologue, Emily asks a good question about the art contest: "Does the judge know which is better?" Unfortunately, Emily's worries are pre-empted by children shouting out other questions. ("If I lose the art contest, will the judge put me in jail?") The teacher does her best to field them, but her message seems to get lost in the noise.
"Losing an art contest does not make you a bad person," says the teacher.
"Yeah," adds a boy named Michael." Just a bad artist."
There's a really subtle resolution to the problem - the two girls get their favorite flavors of ice cream. This is significant because Emily's mother said that the best flavor of ice cream is just the flavor your like best yourself. To make the point even more clear, Catalanotto use's the book's last page to repeat his message in the book's dedication
"For all children who paint with their hearts."