Behind the Canvas by Alexander Vance

Behind the Canvas by Alexander Vance
Published by Feiwel & Friends on February 23rd 2016
Genres: Middle Grade, Fiction
Goodreads

A girl discovers she has the ability to inhabit the world of famous paintings, and tries to help a boy trapped behind the canvas.

There is a world behind the canvas. Past the paint of the canvas is a realm where art lives, breathes, creates, destroys.

Claudia Miravista loves art but only sees what is on the surface, until the Dutch boy Pim appears in her painting. Pim has been trapped in the world behind the canvas for centuries by a power-hungry witch, and now believes that Claudia is his only hope for escape. Fueled by the help of an ancient artist and some microwaveable magic, Claudia enters the wondrous and terrifying world, intent on destroying the witch's most cherished possession and setting Pim free. But in that world nothing is quite as it appears on the surface. Not even friendship.

I received a copy of this book for review from the publisher, this does not influence my thoughts on my book or my review.

I admit that I requested Behind the Canvas on a whim but I don’t regret it one bit. Behind the Canvas is a lovely middle-grade novel about the beauty and wonder of art.

Claudia is a budding artist, and on a class field trip to a museum, she discovers that there’s a whole world behind the canvas of every single art piece. Behind the Canvas is a novel about the wonders of art and everything is not always as it seems.

In the novel, Claudia learns that behind every painting is a world beyond all imagination. Every painting is connected to this world and the world has access to every painting every made around the world. I really enjoyed that the novel mixed in art facts into it, that were presented as fun footnotes to the reader.

I thought the plot of Behind the Canvas was unique. It was so engaging and interesting, and I was definitely shocked at some point! Claudia was definitely a smart and relatable character, and I can see so many young readers relating to her.

I also enjoyed how the novel tackled themes of friendship, good vs. evil and the importance of art.

Overall, I recommend Behind the Canvas for art-fans and for people wanting to see some of their favourite works depicted in a while new light.