LESTER FIZZ, BUBBLE-GUM ARTIST

The scion of an artistic family—a very artistic family, as the boxed “collections” of cousin Cornell, along with the small paintings of uncle Edouard and cousins Claude and Vincent taped to the refrigerator reveal—finds his medium and métier at last. It takes the encouragement of his uncle Edgar, who asks him, “What do you see? What don’t you see? What do you want to see?” Forget ordinary bubble-gum bubbles; an image of Mona Lisa eating a hot dog with pickles and a side of cheese fries is more Lester’s speed, as he discovers after a period of practice. But after nerving himself to enter an art contest, he suddenly loses a front tooth. Will he triumph nonetheless? Do you doubt? Wickstrom illustrates Spiro’s alliterative text with cartoon versions of famous art and artists (there’s a key at the end), and closes with a group portrait of the proud young “artitht” and his smiling family draped in pink goo. Pop art in the most literal sense. (Picture book. 6-8)