Who Stole Mona Lisa?    by Ruthie Knapp & Jill McElmurry Order:  USA  Can Bloomsbury, 2010 (2010) Hardcover     Reviewed by Bob Walch My mysterious smile has made me famous. In fact, there are some people who claim the painting of me by Leonardo da Vinci is the most famous work of art in the world. Perhaps. Oh, in case you are wondering, my real name is Lisa Gherardini. Mona in Italian means my lady so that is why Leonardo's portrait of me is entitled Mona Lisa. Now in this picture book I explain how I came to be the subject of this painting and why, over the centuries, the work of art was passed down from one owner to another. After a while my picture ended up in the Louvre Museum in Paris. Every day hundreds of people came to see me and I became really famous. Then something really weird happened! Left alone at night when everyone went home, I was abducted one evening by a man named Vincenzo Perugia. He pulled me off the wall and took me to his house where he hid me behind a stove. I then was taken to Italy where the man tried to sell me but people recognized me and called the police. He was caught and I was sent back to France. Suddenly the entire country celebrated my return to the museum. There were fireworks, people cheered and everyone wanted to know if I was OK. Of course, I just smiled like I always do! After reading about me and how I was once stolen, you'll hopefully want to know more about art and famous paintings. If so, you can find many other books that will enlighten you. Who knows? One day you may visit Paris and come and see me at the Louvre. If you do I'll be so thrilled that I'll have that special smile on my face! Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Kids books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews