I read this book in 4th grade. The reading level is about 5-7th grade, not for babies or toddlers. The plot of the book is based on a number of items in the Metropolitan Museum of Art which all hale from a town in Vermont called Castleton. One of them is hand-woven carpet with a blue cat depicted on it. Another is a pewter teapot. Around these artifacts and the small amounts of information that could be gleaned on their history, the author has built a charming tale of a blue kitten in search of a home. Since he was born under a blue moon, the kitten can only find a home and a hearth in the house of a human who knows (or can be taught) the River's Song. The River's Song is the Song of Creation, of the making of beautiful things. The kitten encounters many inhabitants of Castletown in his quest and finds them falling under the dark spell of Arunah Hyde, whose whole interest is speed and wealth. The kitten himself nearly falls under the same spell, but escapes at the last minute. His quest seems doomed to fail, however, until he crosses the path of a lonely, ugly girl. This is a book that does not deserve to be out of print. It could easily be used in the classroom as a lesson in early American culture and history, but is also a just a very enjoyable and moving read.

This book made me laugh and made me cry. It also did something that very few books have done before, it gave me hope. The book demonstrates how a love of honesty and beauty affect the lives of different people in different ways. It never falters or leaves the reader hanging. The best read in a long time!

I found this book to contain a dry discussion of art during this time period. For someone who claims to have the expertise of a true connaisseur of art of this time period, the analysis of the purpose of mirgrating artists seems to remain too general to derive any real meaning. In the future I would suggest that you include the purspose of these geographically migrating artists in the text if it is to be as informational as claimed.

The Art of the Gold Rush was written, I believe, as a companion to the art exhibit that toured the nation in commemoration of the Sesquicentennial of the gold discovery at Sutter's Mill.

To scholars of California history, the reproduced paintings and text in the book are worth more than all the Gold dredged out of California's Motherlode. The images are stunning, depicting scenes of early California in the detailed, realistic style of the pre-impressionists. The paintings show us San Francisco as a bucolic village at the mouth of a beautiful bay. They also give us a clear, in-color idea of how the 49ers looked, what they wore, and how amazing a wilderness California was before it was logged and paved over.

The text in the book is as riveting as the paintings it describes. The authors introduce each painting with a discussion of its historical context, a brief biography of the artist, and an analysis of the paitning's structure and use of color and symbolism. Even for someone who, like me, slept through art appreciation, the text is fascinating.

In summary, if you are at all interested in California History, you will relish every page of this book.