School Library Journal

Gr 2-4-In this delightful tale of modern artists, a porky Pigasso and a bullish Mootisse start out as neighbors but end up feuding when they start criticizing one another's work. Now rivals, they transform their farms into bold works of art and then build a fence between the properties. However, the painters find that they miss one another's company and they each paint an apology on the fence-paintings that wow the critics and make the two fast friends. Based loosely on the real-life relationship between Picasso and Matisse, Laden's tale is a wonderful tribute to these exceptional talents and to the concept of accepting the ideas of others. The story is fast paced, packed with humor, and filled with clever wordplay. The bold acrylic paintings perfectly capture the duo's volatile temperaments and different artistic styles; they are fun to look at and reinforce the lighthearted mood of the text. Bound to entice its audience to learn more about these painters, this title is a sure bet for any children's collection. Use it in conjunction with Kathleen Krull's Lives of the Artists (Harcourt, 1995) or appropriate entries in Ernest Raboff's "Art for Children" series (Doubleday).-Nancy Menaldi-Scanlan, LaSalle Academy, Providence, RI

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Verbal and visual puns fill Laden's (The Night I Followed the Dog) sly homage to Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse, who are keenly caricatured as a prima-donna pig and a feisty bull. Pigasso is a dark-eyed hog in a red beret; his facial features rearrange according to his mood, and bruisy hues of blue and purple shadow his yellow-pink complexion. His painting of female pigs--a crafty version of Les Demoiselles d'Avignon--causes an art-world sensation. A canvas by Mootisse, a sophisticated orange bull with a neat brown beard and red-framed spectacles, featuring five graceful, nude cows--The Dance with udders--is hailed as a """"Moosterpiece."""" After urban success, Pigasso and Mootisse move into country homes on either side of an ochre-dirt road. Pigasso's landscape features a tart-yellow house, angular shrubbery and a sharp-edged apple tree bearing cut-open fruit. Mootisse's farm offers a curvy tree, a patchwork garden of cutout leaf-shapes, and a construction-paper-smooth lawn that complements the red house. The artists at first share baguettes and bottles of wine, and make gifts of their paintings, but their friendship erodes as they snipe at each other's styles. Laden lightly satirizes the duo as """"pig-headed and bull-headed,"""" respectively, then lets them admit grudging admiration. She cites cubist and fauvist philosophies (Pigasso calls his rival a """"wild beast""""), and she mimics the real painters' techniques, so that Pigasso favors hard black outlines and Mootisse prefers brilliant side-by-side shades. While junior art historians familiar with the artists' work will laugh loudest, an afterword offers novices the background for this well-observed comedy. Ages 4-10. (Sept.)

Horn Book (Thu Apr 01 00:00:00 CST 1999)

Pigasso the painterly pig and Mootisse the artistic bull live across the street from each other. When a stylistic rivalry erupts, their friendship almost dissolves, until each realizes the value of their companionship. Each character and his surroundings are adroitly rendered in the style of the respective real-life artist, and masterworks are cleverly riffed in the striking gouache illustrations. A brief biography of each artist is included.

Kirkus Reviews

During their youthful art wars in Paris, Picasso and Matisse had a brief falling out after a competitive spat. Here, art imitates life as Laden takes that episode and, through transformation and embellishment, turns it into neat little lessons in art history and ego reduction. Pigasso and Mootisse have separately garnered such fame that they each must flee the hordes to concentrate on their art. When they become neighbors in the countryside, all is bonhomous until their temperaments—and their artistic visions—clash, so much so that they build a great wooden fence between their houses. Gradually their hearts soften. To make amends, and since neither knows how to simply apologize, each simultaneously paints a tribute to the other (and, of course, to himself, as befits such self-importance) on the fence. There are plenty of good (modified) examples of the real artists' works, as well as a couple of surprises, such as a Jackson Pollack-style explosion between the painters. The characters come across as bumptious, strong-willed, and appealing. Laden further lightens the story with goofy wordplay—moosterpiece, pork of art—that adds little when the quality of the artwork and the book's detonation of color are already such pleasures. (Picture book. 4-10)

ALA Booklist (Sun Nov 01 00:00:00 CST 1998)

Unless children know about Picasso and Matisse and their famous feud, they won't get the parody here (Pigasso is a pig with definite cubist leanings who feuds with Mootisse, a bull who paints like a wild beast)--but that's okay. They'll like the loud, bright pictures that demand to be looked at and also the interesting contrast in the way Laden distinguishes the two rivals and their particular art styles. The story isn't as strong as the artwork, but Laden uses language in an entertaining way (moosterpiece pork of art , and the book is a good jumping-off point for discussion about friendship as well as art. Laden supplies a few background details about the artists and their relationship in an afterword. (Reviewed November 1, 1998)