The Starry Night Hardcover – October 1, 1999 by Neil Waldman
 
On a summer day in Central Park, a boy meets a man named Vincent. He is a painter, and the picture on his old wooden easel shows the park's daffodils in all their yellow splendor. The painting captures the boy's imagination. Soon Vincent and the boy are exploring Manhattan, from Battery Park to Harlem, from Fifth Avenue to Greenwich Village. Vincent paints the city in bright and beautiful colors. Then one day he takes the boy to a museum. He leads him to a painting of a country village. No sooner does the boy recognize the painting as one of Vincent's than his friend disappears. But Vincent has left the boy a gift: the desire to paint a picture. Neil Waldman's special book, featuring stunning Van Gogh-inspired paintings of Manhattan, speaks to that part of a child that knows no limits—the imagination.
 
From Publishers Weekly
In another picture book in the burgeoning ordinary-child-meets-famous-artist genre, a ghostly Vincent Van Gogh pops up in contemporary Manhattan to fascinate a boy by doing what he does best: paint. Bernard guides the mysterious artist from "far away" through an uninvitingly rendered pen-and-ink city; color insets include the visitor's colorful paintingsAof the Statue of Liberty, Times Square, the Brooklyn Bridge and other New York iconsAin a sort of "Arles meets Manhattan" fantasy. If less than stylistically authentic, Waldman's (The Never-Ending Greenness) paintings cleverly imitate Van Gogh's feeling for color and replicate his eagerness to depict every aspect of his environment. There's not much in the way of story line (What occasions Van Gogh's appearance, and why does he leave when he does?); instead, the plot serves as a vehicle for Waldman to try on Van Gogh's style. All ages.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Grade 1-4-This showcase for Waldman's paintings of New York City, done in the style of Vincent Van Gogh's work, grew out of his childhood love of his art, and his fantasy of leading the Dutch artist around New York City. It is late 20th century when a group of boys come upon Van Gogh at his easel in Central Park. One, Bernard, stays to make the artist's acquaintance and shows him the sights of the city, from monuments like the Statue of Liberty to various neighborhoods: Chinatown, Harlem, Greenwich Village. Their tour ends at the Museum of Modern Art, in front of The Starry Night. At this point, the artist disappears, leaving Bernard inspired to create his own copy of the picture. Sketches that resemble the master's brown-ink drawings, executed on soft brownish paper, portray the action, as Vincent and Bernard traverse the city. Waldman's vibrantly colored paintings, with brushwork mimicking Van Gogh's, are set in squares on the double spreads, creating a striking page design. Children's interpretations of The Starry Night fill the endpapers. An intriguing conceit for larger collections, or where there is strong interest in art.
Margaret A. Chang, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, North Adams
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.