Dream Something Big

The Story of the Watts Towers

This post is part of Nonfiction Monday 

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by True Tales & A Cherry On Top

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are listed below!  Thanks for joining us!

Dial Books for Young Readers (Penguin)

(pub. 8.18.2011)  40 pages 

A True Tale with A Cherry On Top 

A uthor: Diana Hutts Aston
and collages:  Susan L. Roth

C haracters: Simon Rodia and the Watts Towers

 

O verview from the publisher: 

        "Uncle Sam's dream began with something tiny - just one single chip of broken tile that he found on the street. But that little chip became the first building block to a U.S. National Landmark. Day after day, year after year, a young girl named Marguerite watches Uncle Sam turn thousands of seashells, tiles, mirrors, and rocks into a group of glorious, nearly 100-foot-tall towers - which later become known as the Watts Towers..."

 

T antalizing taste: 

       "Uncle Sam was like a spider weaving his web of steel and cement and lacy shadows.'"

and something more:  I learned that the illustrator of this picture book biography, Susan Roth, who now lives in NYC studied art at Mills College.  My connections to Mills College are that my mother-in-law studied there, and in October I'll be on a panel at the norcal SCBWI conference there.  It's such a lovely campus and always a treat to be there.
     I was intrigued to read about Susan Roth's collage illustrations, as described on her website: "All but the first two of her 40 books are illustrated with cut and torn papers from all over the world, and bits of many other things, too: threads, fabrics, wood shavings, photographs, doilies, insides of envelopes, dried flowers. She is always looking for things to glue onto her pictures that she hopes are full of surprises."
     And it's always so interesting to hear about someone's passion, collage in Susan Roth's case:  "I don't paint. Over the years I have developed my collage technique into one which is exclusively faithful to cutting and tearing. From the most complete background papers to the tiniest dots of eyes and I's, I only cut or rip. This has become a real issue for me. I wear my 'no pencils, pens nor paints' sign like a badge of honor." The descriptions of her workspace reminded me of photos of Romare Bearden's studio -- paper and materials everywhere.  The makings of creativity!

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Jim Henson

The Guy Who Played with Puppets

This post is part of Nonfiction Monday 

hosted today by Tales from the Rushmore Kid

Random House 
(pub. 8.23.2011)  40 pages

A True Tale with A Cherry On Top
  
A uthor: Kathleen Krull

      and Paintings: Steve Johnson and Lou Fancherr

C haracter: Jim Henson

 

O verview from the jacket flap: 

        "What do you want to be when you grow up? A teacher? A poet? The president? Well, Jim Henson wanted to play with puppets.  If you want to make the world a better place, making people happy is a great way to start ..."

 

T antalizing taste:

       "Jim hesitated. The show had a weird name - Sesame Street. Joan [the TV producer] explained that just as the command 'Open Sesame' in the old Arabian tale opened a door to treasure, she wanted her show to open doors in young minds.  Jim wasn't sure he wanted to limit his Muppets to children. But years of watching his own children convinced him... Maybe TV could be a good influence." 

and something more:
Kathleen Krull was awarded the 2011 Children's Book Guild Nonfiction Award, and I liked what the site said about her writing and biographies: "What draws her to writing biographies?  As a self-confessed 'nosy' person, Krull enjoys researching the details that spice a life and offer insight into personality and accomplishments.  But biographies also 'fill a great need,' she says.  'We read them to find out who we are.'  By discovering how we resemble and differ from others, be they ordinary or extraordinary, says Krull, we learn 'something about our own identity, our goals, our possibilities in life.'  She considers it a privilege to help young readers in this search."  I couldn't agree more!

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Orani

My Family's Village

This post is part of Nonfiction Monday 

hosted today by Wrapped in Foil

Frances Foster Books (Farrar Straus Giroux)

(pub. 7.19.2011)  40 pages 

A True Tale with A Cherry On Top

A uthor and illustrator: Claire Nivola
  
C haracter: Claire Nivola and Orani, her childhood village

 

O verview from the jacket flap: 

        "As a child, Claire Nivola loved visiting Orani, a tiny village nestled among the mountains of central Sardinia in the heart of the Mediterranean.  It was there that her father had been born, one of ten children in a family so poor that he had to share a bed with five of his siblings. And it was there, when Claire returned with him years later, that she learned about life and death, about the ways of nature and of the human family..."

 

T antalizing taste:

       "More cousins appeared and we scattered like birds. Our sandals clattering on the paving stones, we flew along the alleys - up to the right, down sharply to the left, out into the blazing brightness of a piazza." 

and something more:
I savored Claire Nivola's description of her village in the Author's Note in Orani My Father's Village: "Orani was a complete world and just the right scale for a child. Everything happened there - all the tragedies and joys - but they happened in a contained place, among family and neighbors, where everyone knew and cared so that as a child I could comprehend and feel that each part fit into life's whole.  It was there that I saw where the things I ate came from - the tree, the plant, the animal - and how each food was made by the work of someone's hands. In Orani, I felt at the literal source of everything, and how thrilling that was!"  And her wonderful detailed illustrations convey this sense of connection.

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My Hands Sing the Blues

Romare Bearden's
Childhood Journey

This post is part of Nonfiction Monday 

hosted today by Playing By The Book

Marshall Cavendish Children

(pub. 9.1.2011)  40 pages 

A True Tale with A Cherry On Top

A uthor: Jeanne Walker Harvey
     and Illustrator:  Elizabeth Zunon

C haracter: Romare Bearden

 

O verview from the jacket flap: 

         "As a young boy growing up in North Carolina, Romare Bearden listened to his great-grandmother's Cherokee stories and the whistles of trains steaming through town.
     When Romare's family, faced with Jim Crow laws, decided to head north, tears stung Romare's eyes as he watched the world whiz by out the train window.  Later he captured his childhood memories in a famous painting, Watching the Good Trains Go By.  Using that painting as inspiration and creating a text influenced by the blues and jazz that Bearden loved, Jeanne Walker Harvey has created a story of Bearden's childhood.  She describes the patchwork of daily southern life that he saw from the train's window and the story of his arrival in shimmering New York City." 

 

T antalizing taste: 

     " I snip a patch of color and add a cut-out face.
      Oh! I glue on jazzy blue for sky and add another face.
      People walk into my work as if it's always been their place.

      My hands sing the blues when I paint and cut and paste.
      I never know what I’ll create when I paint and cut and paste.
      I use paper, fabrics, photos, and nothing goes to waste.”

and something more:   At first I hesitated to write this post about my own book, My Hands Sing the Blues - Romare Bearden's Childhood Journey, which was released this week!  But then I decided I wanted to sing about it from the rooftops (and my blog) -- it's such an exciting event for me.  A dream come true! 
        I first had the idea to write this book in 2004 when, as a docent at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, I gave tours to school groups of an incredible Bearden exhibit organized by The National Gallery (Ruth Fine, curator and author of the comprehensive The Art of Romare Bearden which I studied).  During my tours at SFMOMA, I could barely move the students to the next painting because they were so fascinated by Romare Bearden's huge collages and the stories they told. 
         So many people have been part of this book journey with me.  I dedicated the book to my mom -- "For my mother, June, who always inspires me to put a beat of color on an empty canvas." It's true -- she embodies creativity and instilled a love of it (and modern art) in me.  My dear husband and my wonderful sons have always been my biggest supporters and early readers of my drafts.  And I also owe heartfelt thanks to my dad, my family and wonderful friends who always encourage me, the San Francisco Docent Program that inspired me to write this book, my writer mentors (including Uma Krishnaswami who kept my writing spark lit when I was doubting myself, and Anastasia Suen whose courses kept me focused and inspired, and Amy Novesky who has included me in the warmth of her writing groups), and Margery Cuyler, an amazing editor at Marshall Cavendish (and author of many children's books also), who artfully guided me to rethink the text in just the right spots, and the incredibly talented artist Elizabeth Zunon, who is truly the best illustrator I can imagine for this book, and Lucy, my 11 year old black Lab who patiently listened as I read my many drafts aloud over and over and over again.  Thank you to all!

            "When I put a beat of color on an empty canvas,
                  I never know what's coming down the track." 

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