The Artist

Lisa Arsenault is an elementary-school teacher in Ajax.

Amelio had always wanted to be a great landscape artist, but the
necessity of earning a living, first to help his parents and then to
support his own large family, forced him to use his artistic gifts for
financial gain. He had to settle for the mundane, but more lucrative,
artistic occupations of sign painting, greeting-card design, and the
like. After a long and happy life, God rewarded his selflessness by
placing him in charge of the “Glorious Sunrise Department.” After a
lifetime of executing pedestrian art, Amelio now creates great
landscapes every morning, with the world as his canvas.

The themes of duty, responsibility, and caring for one’s family
pervade this book, but then so do the earthly rewards that accompany
such devotion to moral concerns. The author stresses the joy Amelio
derives from his family and the satisfaction he finds in doing well the
work that earns his daily bread, even if it does not involve the
creation of great art. Excessive moralizing is avoided through the
author’s whimsical use of animals rather than humans, and through the
humorous illustrations. This nice morality tale for young children
handily conveys its message that a life lived correctly will reap
benefits both during this lifetime and in the hereafter. Recommended.