I had never heard of Jacob Lawrence before and I feel like this biography of this influential African American painter was extremely informative and hI had never heard of Jacob Lawrence before and I feel like this biography of this influential African American painter was extremely informative and his paintings are beautiful to look at. Something I liked about the illustrations were the incorporation of photos from Lawrence’s life. It added a personal touch and we were able to see him throughout his life. I feel like this book would be good for students in middle school and would be good to talk about important moments in history that many books would overlook. I feel like the migration of African Americans to the North is not talked about. I personally do not remember learned about this in depth and I think this book has a lot of historical value that is often overlooked or forgotten about. I feel like it would be a good book to read at bed with a child since it is broken into chapters. Each chapter moves along Jacob Lawrence’s story and will bring up questions from children that are probably hardly touched on in school settings. I will definitely be sharing this book and learning about Jacob Lawrence because I really enjoyed the story and the vibrant illustrations that went with the historical content. ...more
I never knew about Diego Rivera until I read this book. I feel like this book promotes diversity and that anyone can tell stories through art. At the I never knew about Diego Rivera until I read this book. I feel like this book promotes diversity and that anyone can tell stories through art. At the end of the novel it asks questions of what Diego Rivera would paint about our society today if he were alive and says since he isn’t alive that “it is up to us to make our own murals and bring them to life.” I liked how the book was engaging with the reader to create art as well. Something I really liked were the illustrations. Not only were they diverse among gender and ethnicity but they were also simple and characters were drawn the same just the coloring was different. I feel like this helped promote the equality among everyone rather than singling a specific gender or race out. It made it feel like Rivera’s art was for everyone and we should appreciate it. The only thing I felt that was lacking was being able to see some of Rivera’s art. This book is about Rivera’s life and contributions he made to art and Mexican culture, but the simplicity of illustrations was not his. Even having a few pictures at the end with the bio and bibliography I feel would have been beneficial to a young reader who wanted to see some of the murals Rivera painted. ...more
I have always been fascinated by Jackson Pollock from a young age so when I saw this book I had to pick it up. The illustrations and text are geared fI have always been fascinated by Jackson Pollock from a young age so when I saw this book I had to pick it up. The illustrations and text are geared for children grades 3-5. I really liked how we learned about Pollock’s process and his process of his very famous paintings come from. In the back of the book there is a two page bio on Pollock and a sources list which adds credibility to the text. In the bio it says “Because of the way Jackson moved around the canvas, pouring paint from a brush or stick, his artwork was labeled “drip painting” or “action painting,” thus the nickname “Action Jackson.”” I really liked how we now understand why the title of the book was chosen. It felt like this tied the story together and gave me a new appreciation for Jackson Pollock. Something else I really enjoyed about the text were the weaving of quotes from Pollock throughout the text. It made me feel as if Pollock had a hand in the narration and that he was speaking to the reader. Along with the text, the illustrations are beautiful and something you would see on a gallery wall. The watercolors and vibrancy imitate his paintings in a unique way. ...more
On the book jacket it dates when the event took place and sums up what happened very short and to the point. I really liked how they brought the trageOn the book jacket it dates when the event took place and sums up what happened very short and to the point. I really liked how they brought the tragedy of September 11th into the book. It starts with the statement “once there were two towers side by side” and ends with a page of solely text reading “now the towers are gone.” It is purposeful and gives the book context and opens up a subject to parents and children that might not have been talked about up to this point. The illustrations are breathtaking and give up the scope of how high Petit is. It is really realistic. On the cover we see Petit on the wire and two American symbols the Tower and a bald eagle, The bald eagle ties into Petit feeling free when on the wire and the American spirit and historical value of both symbols. There are two pullout pages in the book that I thought were very unique. It made it feel like the towers were taller within the page constraint and gave it a different perspective that I feel complimented the story very well. It helped give the towers height more context and what the spectators were seeing happen in front of them. This book is meant for children grades 2-5. The story revolves around the Twin Towers and includes subtle mention of September 11th and will bring up a conversation about those events. ...more
I had heard the name Gershwin and couldn’t remember why it was familiar until I looked it up and saw that it is where Wicked has been playing on BroadI had heard the name Gershwin and couldn’t remember why it was familiar until I looked it up and saw that it is where Wicked has been playing on Broadway for over 10 years. The book talks about how George felt about music and mentions Broadway “When he felt those smooth keys beneath his fingers, his face lit up like the lights on Broadway.” I really enjoyed learning more about a man who was so influential to music. The illustrations are beautiful as well as the text contributing to telling the story. The hand drawn text makes it feel like the author is composing the story and writing notes or rhythms throughout the story. When Gershwin is on the train hearing his masterpiece of “Rhapsody in Blue” we read onomatopoeia with the “rattle-ty, bang!” of the train creating music. I felt like this was very a successful technique to continue the love of music throughout George’s life past his adolescence and how his masterpiece came to be. I really liked how the onomatopoeia was written text as well to create the musicality rather than it being typed. It added a personal touch to it. I also enjoyed the author’s note and timeline at the end of the book. It gave more biographical details on Gershwin that a reader might have been curious about and also supported the story. ...more
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