Why a Booktrail?
1911: On Monday, August 21, 1911, Vincenzo Peruggia stole the Mona Lisa….
The Mona Lisa Caper
What you need to know before your trail
A children’s book based on the real life art heist of 1911 when an Italian thief living in Paris stole the most famous painting in the world from the Louvre museum. He was a thief with a conscience of a kind – for he was trying to steal it back for the Italian people as he believed that it had really been stolen from them.
Imagine all of this and then imagine if the painting could talk and it narrated the entire thing! Well, this is the fun premise for this read!
Travel Guide
The Mona Lisa is perhaps one of the most famous paintings in the world. People from every country on earth know of it, have seen it or heard of it and always wonder about that smile…
Fewer seem to know of the famous heist and this is a fun way to find out about it, how it happened and what happened next. How the painting was thought to belong to the Italian people who then showered Vincenzo with gifts to make his prison stay as comfortable as possible.
Mona Lisa’s view of it all is very entertaining – bored of hanging on the same wall year after year, she needs a holiday and hasn’t even seen the famous city of Paris where she lives! When she is given the chance to travel by Vincenzo, well, she’s going to enjoy this experience! She gets to know him, how he was in the museum and how he is now and discovers more of his life. Vincenzo is homesick for Italy – his home and Mona Lisa’s true home so off they go.
For more on the real heist – ft.com
Booktrailer Review
Susan:
This is one funny book. Oh the drawings are gorgeous but for the fun factor in learning about a real life heist, this takes some beating. I had heard of the heist and read a little about it but now I’ve got a whole new understanding of it and it really is inspiring to read. The pictures make it and it is interesting for children and adults alike given the unique angle of the story. I visited the Mona Lisa not long after discovering this book and couldn’t help think of the journey she’d been on all those years ago. It makes me smile every time.
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