Book excerpt: Based on the beloved series of water lily paintings by Claude Monet, this children's book draws readers into the atmosphere and colors of Monet's garden at Giverny, where a lovely but vain frog tries to insert herself into the artist's work. When Antoinette, a comely young frog, learns that a famous artist is searching for beautiful flowers to paint, she is determined to get in the picture. But once the portrait is painted, it disappears--perhaps forever. This delightfully humorous mystery is accompanied by colorful illustrations that recall Monet's paintings of the pond near his home in Giverny. The final pages of the book feature reproductions of eight of Monet's water lily paintings. As children follow Antoinette's antics on a summer evening in France, they will become entranced by the pond, the painter, the light, and the beauty of Monet's world.