A life-size portrait of the famous rhinoceros named Clara is the massive centerpiece of the Getty Museum's exhibition "Oudry's Painted Menagerie". In her honour, the Getty has produced "My Travels with Clara", a picture book for children that tells the true story of this five-thousand-pound animal and her owner, an eighteenth-century Dutch sea captain. "My Travels with Clara" begins in India, where Clara was born, and follows this amazing animal and her owner through their exploits in Berlin (where she met Frederick the Great), Paris (where she was a sensation and inspired rhinoceros hairdos), Versailles (where she met Louis XV and had her portrait painted), Rome (where she lost her horn), and finally Venice (where Clara joined in the annual Carnival). This is a delightful story for children ages eight and up.

 

This book was recognised in the Nonfiction Picture Book category by the Moonbeam Children's Book Award.

There are 32 pages in this book. This is a picture book. A picture book uses pictures and text to tell the story. The number of words varies from zero ('wordless') to around 1k over 32 pages. Picture books are typically aimed at young readers (age 3-6) but can also be aimed at older children (7+). This book was published 2007 by Getty Trust Publications .

Mary Tavener Holmes is an independent scholar from New York who specialises in French eighteenth-century paintings and drawings. She is the author of numerous publications, including Nicolas Lancret: Dance Before a Fountain and A Magic Mirror: The Portrait in France, 1700-1900, with George T. M. Shackelford. Jon Cannell is the owner of Jon Cannell Design and Illustration. He has worked for such clients as Starbucks Coffee Company, Chronicle Books, the Harvard Business Review, and UNICEF. Marc McCutcheon is a bookstore owner and the author of Roget's Super Thesaurus, Descriptionary, The Compass in Your Nose and Other Astonishing Facts About Humans and 12 other books. He lives in Maine. Jon Cannell is an accomplished designer and founder of Jon Cannell Design. His clients include several Fortune 500 companies. He lives in Washington state.