Jen Bryant
Illustrated by Melissa Sweet
Nonfiction Picture Book
For ages 6 to 8
Random House, 2013, 978-0-375-86712-5
On February 22, 1888, Horace Pippin came into the world.
The grandson of a slave, Horace did his part to help out by doing chores and
taking care of his siblings. At the end of the day, once all the work was done,
Horace used to draw pictures, capturing on paper the things that he had
experienced and seen during the day. He also drew pictures at school,
delighting his classmates and infuriating his teacher.
One day Horace
entered a drawing contest and to his delight he won. The prize he received was
a package of art supplies, and he was thrilled to own his very own colored
pencils, brushes, and paints. Even when Horace had to leave school to work, he
kept on creating pictures for himself and for his coworkers. Then, when World
War I broke out, Horace left his home, joined the army, and went to serve his
country in Europe. For days, sitting in a trench, Horace did not see the sun. When
there was a lull in the fighting Horace drew pictures for himself and for his
soldier friends who asked him to “Make a picture for us, Horace!”
Then Horace was
shot in the shoulder. His right hand could not move normally, nor could he use
it to lift things. For the first time since he was a little boy, Horace could
not paint or draw. It was as if a door to a special world had been closed in
his face.
In this
remarkable picture book biography, Jen Bryant’s emotive text is paired with
Melissa Sweet’s splendid mixed media artwork. On several of the pages the
artist incorporates hand lettered quotes into the artwork, giving us a very
personal connection with the thoughts and feelings of one of America’s great
artists.
Notes at the
back of the book written by the author and illustrator give us some insight
into the journey that they took, together, to find out about Horace Pippin, his
work, and his legacy.
No comments:
Post a Comment