Deborah Stevenson (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, May 2004 (Vol. 57, No. 9))
Grandma Prisbrey "wasn’t a regular sort of a person who did things in a regular sort of way," so it strikes her as completely natural to use throwaway glass bottles to build her California house. She’s so enchanted with the stacked glass in myriad colors that she goes on to build outbuildings and garden ornaments, playfully designing with color ("She made a wishing well of blue bottles and a rumpus room of green ones") and shape ("Just for fun she built a round house"). Eventually her creation draws floods of visitors, and Grandma Prisbrey is surprised to find herself called an artist. This is an inherently fascinating subject, and Slaymaker’s text deftly compacts the high points of Prisbrey’s story into an accessible narrative peppered with quietly illuminating quotes from Prisbrey herself. Paschkis’ sometimes intricate gouache art captures the plenitude and joyous overstuffedness of Prisbrey’s creations. Unfortunately, the draftsmanship sometimes overprettifies the scenes and, especially, the faces, undercutting the bold if kitschy drama of Prisbrey’s created world and raising the question of why the book wasn’t illustrated with photographs throughout (a final double-page spread offers some photographic images that more effectively convey the scope and genuine grandeur Prisbrey managed to achieve). This has obvious uses for inspiring art projects as well as discussing outsider or folk art; most importantly, it will demonstrate that the making of art is available to anybody, a salutary lesson that can help counteract the sobering effects of hushed museum halls. A brief final note gives more information about Tessa Prisbrey and her Bottle Village. Review Code: R -- Recommended. (c) Copyright 2004, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2004, Holt, 32p, $16.95. Ages 6-9 yrs.

Jennifer Mattson (Booklist, Mar. 1, 2004 (Vol. 100, No. 13))
As an introduction to the genre variously known as outsider art, self-taught art, or visionary art, Grandma Prisbrey serves the purpose well. Her whimsical creation, a whole village of houses made of multicolored glass bottles gathered from the dump, will engage children, as will her endearing eccentricities (she dyed her cats pink, blue, and yellow). Bright and riotous in the Maira Kalman vein, Paschkis' watercolors depict Prisbrey at work surrounded by lovely folk-art metaphors for her fertile creativity: twining vines, giant unfurling flowers, and flocks of birds. The text by newcomer Slaymaker is lively enough, though it does little more than string together homespun quotes from Prisbrey herself ("They call me an artist . . . even though I can't draw a car that looks like one") with hardly any biographical context. Concluding photographs are accompanied by an endnote explaining that Prisbrey's creation was damaged by a 1994 earthquake and directing curious readers to visit the Preserve Bottle Village Web site, an excellent resource that fills in details missing from the book itself. Category: Books for the Young--Nonfiction