Keesia and Henri Matisse have the same birthday-New Year's Eve! That's why she picks him for her artist report. She finds out that over his long career Matisse made paintings, sculpture, books, costumes, and her favorite-his cut-outs, or what Matisse called "drawing with scissors." The report is filled with about 20 of Matisse's masterpieces as well as artwork that Keesia has created in his "style" (cut-out leaves, drawings through windows, fauvist animals). As she follows Matisse through his life she discovers why he is considered one of the greatest artists of the twentieth century.