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|aznus=1847806422

|cover=1847806422

|summary=Take 26 pictures and extrapolate from them what you will, in this exceedingly broad and inventive trawl through centuries of gallery-worthy images. Brilliant.

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The stories don't always come across very well – in this reproduction it was hard for me to pick out the boy and his dog driving a steam train, and the boy at the seaside, and I didn't even see the fish being spotted by the clown (don't ask). But the stories are there. The book is 'solved' if you like by the names of the images and details about their creators at the end of the book, so this serves as a great lead-in to further basic academic study. But before then it's a source of wonder – as well as wondering. The fact that the artworks can be so open-ended will inspire you to draw sequels, write stories built around the details, discuss the unknown and make the images your own. Such things whole museums are designed to never do with their concentration on biographical detail, interpretation and fact, but this book does it with just as much aplomb as any national institution.

For a more fictional approach to a similar idea to Blake's, we suggest [[Katie and the British Artists by James Mayhew]]. [[Explore and Draw Patterns: An Art Activity Book by Owen Davey and Georgia Amson-Bradshaw]] is a great way for the family to get to making their own masterpieces. You might also appreciate [[The Art of Stephen Hickman by Stephen Hickman]].