Stories Pictures Tell. Book 2

What stories do paintings hold waiting to be discovered? This early 20th-century gem guides young readers through the hidden narratives of masterworks, training eyes to see what words cannot express. From the bustling energy of a farrier shoeing a bay mare to the quiet rhythms of rural farm life, Carpenter invites children to look closer, ask questions, and find meaning in every brushstroke. Rather than lecturing on technique or art history, she treats paintings as puzzles meant to be solved, narratives meant to be felt. Each section presents a work, tells its story, and then asks the questions that transform passive viewing into active discovery. Why does that farmer look over his shoulder? What is the dog anticipating in the corner of the scene? The book understands that great art has always been a language, and children are natural polyglots. Generations of young readers have used these pages to discover that standing before a painting is its own kind of reading.