Sellier (Matisse from A to Z, 1995, etc.) has created another succinct biography told in ABC form, by matching one relevant French word to an aspect of the artist's life (Bulles for bubbles, as well as Ubu and Winterthur). Unlike the art of Matisse and Monet, Bonnard's work hasn't been replicated to an excess; perhaps that's why his paintings seem such a breath of fresh air. A friend of Vuillard and Roussel, Bonnard was included in a group of artists called the Nabis (the Hebrew word for prophet), who believed everything should be a work of art. Bonnard put this theory to practice, painting on fans, room screens, and dressers, as well as canvas. His work often portrayed domestic subjects--children, pets, and his wife, Marthe. From such details, Sellier arranges a touching homage to a painter whose brush recorded the many crucial details necessary to create un petit monde--the ``small world'' that was Bonnard's definition of a painting. (Picture book. 7-10)
