A Splash of Red

The Life and Art of Horace Pippin

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Alfred A. Knopf/ Random House

(pub. 1.8.2013) 40 pages 

A True Tale with A Cherry On Top

A uthor: Jen Bryant

     and Illustrator: Melissa Sweet

C haracter: Horace Pippin

O verview from the publisher: 

     "As a child in the late 1800s, Horace Pippin loved to draw...He drew pictures for his sisters, his classmates, his co-workers. Even during W.W.I, Horace filled his notebooks with drawings from the trenches . . . until he was shot. Upon his return home, Horace couldn't lift his right arm, and couldn't make any art. Slowly, with lots of practice, he regained use of his arm, until once again, he was able to paint--and paint, and paint! Soon, people—including the famous painter N. C. Wyeth—started noticing Horace's art, and before long, his paintings were displayed in galleries and museums across the country..."

        

T antalizing taste: 

         "Then, if he could find a scrap of paper and a piece of charcoal, he drew pictures of what he'd seen that day.
        Horace loved to draw. He loved the feel of the charcoal as it slid across the floor. He loved looking at something in the room and making it come alive in front of him. He loved thinking about a friend or a pet, then drawing them from the picture in his mind."

                       

and something more: I was intrigued to read the collaborative efforts behind A Splash of Red. Melissa Sweet recounts the background in her Illustrator's Note: "Typically, authors and illustrators stay fairly separate when making a picture book, but after Jen [Bryant] wrote this text, we bucked the tide by researching Horace Pippin together. Driving through the back roads of eastern Pennsylvania, we shared what we both knew and loved about art and Pippin." 
          And, as Jen Bryant explains in her Author's Note: ".... once the story was written, Melissa and I retraced many of these paths [of her earlier research] and forged some new ones. We were inspired and amazed by the very real struggles in Horace Pippin's life and the incredible, simple elegance of his work. Through his art, he transcended personal loss, injury, poverty, violence, and racism, producing a body of work that remains wholly original and deeply American"... AND inspiring!

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Colorful Dreamer

The Story of Artist
Henri Matisse

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Nonfiction Monday

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Dial Books for Young Readers

(pub. 11.8.2012) 32 pages 

A True Tale with A Cherry On Top

A uthor: Marjorie Blain Parker

     and Illustrator:  Holly Berry

C haracter: Henri Matisse

O verview from the jacket flap: 

      "There was once a boy named Henri, whose dreams were full of color even though his hometown was dreary and gray. His parents expected him to take over the family shop when he grew up, but he longed for a more dramatic life, and dreamed of being noticed.
        Then Henri started painting ... and kept painting and dreaming and working at his craft until he'd become one of the most admired and famous artists in the world.
        This vivid, lyrical picture book tells one artist's remarkable story, and in the process inspires all readers to follow their own big dreams."

        

T antalizing taste: 

      "It wasn't easy ... But Henri was stubborn. He refused to give up.
      He dreamed colorful dreams. He painted colorful paintings. And, little by little, people noticed....
       He moved to the coast, where the light was clear and the colors bright. He named his villa 'La Reve' - the Dream - and he filled it with birds and goldfish and flowers and fabrics. Here too he painted, as more and more people noticed."

                       

and something more: Marjorie Blain Parker explains in "A Note about Henri Matisse" at the back of Colorful Dreamer: "And, at first, Matisse's work was laughed at. Art critics sneered at his canvases, considering his technique shocking - the use of green in a woman's face, for example. They called him a Fauve, which is French for 'wild beast'."  
            Just a few days ago, I visited a class of 3rd graders to prepare them for their field trip visit today to The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art where I'm a docent and lead school group tours.  I held up the museum's Matisse painting, Femme au chapeau (Woman with a Hat 1905) and asked the class why they thought the people of Paris were so shocked and angry about this painting when it was first displayed. I called on a boy who was frantically waving his arm, and he responded, "I read a book and it said it was because green isn't a color that is supposed to be on people's faces."  Perhaps it was this very book, and today the boy will get to see the actual painting. Full circle. 

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From the Good Mountain

How Gutenberg Changed the World

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Macmillan/Flash Point

(pub. 9.18.12) 36 pages 

A True Tale with A Cherry On Top

A uthor and illustrator: James Rumford

     

C haracter: Johannes Gutenberg

O verview from the jacket flap: 

      "What was made of rags and bones, soot and seeds? What took a mountain to make?
       For the answer, travel back to the fifteenth century - to a time when books were made by hand and a man named Johannes Gutenberg invented a way to print books with movable type.
        Written as a series of riddles and illustrated in the style of medieval manuscripts by award-winning author and artist James Rumford, From the Good Mountain will intrigue readers of all ages..."

        

T antalizing taste: 

        "A man from the Good Mountain in the city of Mainz ... put a sheet of damp paper into the press and slid paper and type under the giant screw. He pulled the handle. The screw turned and pressed the paper onto the raised letters of the type. In a flash the paper was glistening with words. He looked at his work and smiled."

                       

and something more: I always enjoy the Author's Note and Back Matter in picture book biographies, and the Epilogue of From the Good Mountain provides lots to ponder, including a discussion of the first printed books and a new vocabulary word for me: "From 1450 to 1500 printing was in its infancy. The books printed then have a special name to show how new they were: incunabula (in-kyoo-NA-byoo-la), which means 'cloth in which you wrap a newborn baby.'"  Sweet!

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Harlem's Little Blackbird

The Story of Florence Mills 

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Random House Books for Young Readers

(pub. 10.23.2012) 40 pages 

A True Tale with A Cherry On Top

A uthor: Rene Watson

     and Illustrator: Christian Robinson

C haracter: Florence Mills

O verview from the jacket flap: 

      "Growing up in Washington, DC, at the turn of the twentieth century, Florence Mills knew that she was blessed with a gift - a sweet, birdlike singing voice that everyone loved. But she also knew firsthand the profound ache of racism. When she moved to New York City, the stages got bigger, the lights grew brighter, and offers that could make her an international star were hers for the taking. Instead, Florence chose shows that helped promote other black performers. And she sang songs that heralded the call for civil rights.
     Together Renee Watson's gorgeously evocative prose and Christian Robinson's stunning mixed-media art shine a light on this little-known but much-loved member of the Harlem Renaissance elite - a performer whose story may have faded from the history books, but whose influence resonated long after she sang her last song."

        

T antalizing taste: 

     "Each night, Florence gave her best. Every part of her body danced. Her eyelashes fluttered, her fingers wiggled. She whirled around and boogied down. Night after night, she gave the audience a hand-clapping, foot-stomping good time...
      Florence's dream lives on in the singers and dancers who came after her. It lives on in the heart of every boy and girl from a teeny-tiny, itsy-bitsy place who dreams of doing great big, gigantic, enormous things."

                       

and something more: Christian Robinson, the illustrator of Harlem's Little Blackbird, was interviewed on the blog, Random Acts of Reading. He talked with Suzy Capozzi, editor of the book at Random House, about the process of working with the art director Ellice Lee:
       "There was a real sense of creative freedom, I wasn’t asked to alter my style or to make something that '…looked more like this thing over here.' It was as if whatever came naturally for me was appreciated, which is like having a huge weight lifted. There was room for play and exploration, which made illustrating a positive experience and a lot of fun." 
        Sounds like a wonderful collaboration!

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