Gr 7 Up-These books offer well-documented information for teens doing reports. Each volume covers the painter's childhood, training, travels, influences, and historical context. The chronological chapters build a survey of the artists' oeuvres, including the style and subject matter of their works and past and present critical reaction. Introductory chapters are designed to draw readers in with a character or anecdote, e.g., the sale of Van Gogh's Portrait of Dr. Gachet for $82.5 million in 1990 and its subsequent disappearance. One-page "FYI" sections offer expanded coverage of selected topics. Of the two titles, Canaletto is more challenging to read as Rice's language is more sophisticated than Whiting's. To his credit, Whiting defines subject-specific terms in context, provides pronunciation tips, and explains potentially unfamiliar events or people. Van Gogh covers much of the same material found in Jen Green's Vincent van Gogh (Watts, 2002); it allows easier access to bits of information than Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan's Vincent van Gogh (Delacorte, 2001). The color reproductions in both titles are small; this is more problematic in the book about Canaletto, whose figures were already dwarfed by their architectural settings. Compact, well-researched overviews of important figures in the history of art.-Wendy Lukehart, Washington DC Public Library Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.