Title: David Travels to the Past  |  Author: Gonzalo Martínez de Antoñana  |  Illustrator: María José Mosquera Beceiro  |  Publication Date: August 2016  |  Publisher: Saure  |  ISBN: 978-8416197699

Book Description: David is a young and restless apprentice painter who wants to know everything about painting. His intelligent teacher, the Master Messina, invents a way of transporting David through time to prehistory. They go there looking for the origins of art, but once they are there nothing will be as they thought.

My thoughts: David Travels to the Past is an educational graphic novel for middle graders focused on art history. This is a compelling format for young readers and a visually stimulating way to hold the interest of children as they learn about various art forms. The book is packed with information both in written form and within the dense illustrations, tackling two major art types between the covers. But it’s not all paints and pastels for David. Action abounds from hunts to ceremonies, sneaky villains and all-powerful gods, as the students stumble through prehistoric times and later Mesopotamia meeting key figures and seeing different art forms created firsthand. Master Messina, himself an art expert, explains many of their findings and the terminology used throughout is on an advanced level – Cuneiform Script, Ziggurat, the Ur Banner, anyone? In short, there is a lot to learn in David Travels to the Past and this book would be a great addition to any middle grade art history classroom library. Note: I received this book free of charge from the author or publisher.

Giveaway: Win one of FIVE print copies of the graphic novel David Travels to the Past. Open internationally. Ends Dec 10th.