This is a well-crafted tale of a young girl's introduction to the world of artistic achievement. The central character, Marionberry, is humorously led through a series of steps acquainting her with all the elements involved in gathering or sometimes creating the materials needed to transform her artistic inspiration into reality. The discussion and illustrations throughout the book provide expertly detailed information from a master artist. This is done while also depicting Marionberry's mistaken ideas about “picking the bristles” from paint brushes, her failed efforts at “stretching a canvas,” and setting about with hammer and nails to “create a pallet” to hold the paint for her “masterpiece.” From beginning to the end, everything wonderfully culminates in the final painting of Marionberry's masterpiece