This lovely picture book biography, The Iridescence of Birds, by author Patricia 
MacLachlan and illustrator Hadley Hooper poses questions to a young child. What if you grew up in a gray French town and found colour wherever you went? Would you grow up to be Henri Matisse? Would you paint what you see and what you remembered?
The language is soft and lilting and oh so beautiful to read aloud, and the art was inspired by Matisse’s work. Read the notes, too, where both author and illustrator give their ideas about understanding Matisse.
