Ashley Bryan deserves a special valentine for bringing so much joy to the realm of
children’s
literature. From his witty, rhythmic retellings of folktales to his bold and beautiful paintings, woodcuts, and
collages, Bryan has enriched the lives of countless readers around the world. You can meet this beloved author/illustrator by opening
Ashley Bryan: Words to My Life’s Song (Atheneum, 2009)
. This
engaging autobiography shines with light, color, and love. Bryan, 87 and still thriving, invites us to hear his story, enlivened with his own poetic, accessible language and with a potpourri of photographs that reveal his childhood world, his family, his artwork, his Bronx neighborhood, his parents’ home back in Antigua, as well as his life on Little Cranberry Island. We get a sense of how he evolved as an artist; one touching painting shows him as a wide-eyed child, book in hand, staring out the window at night. Images of birds — which filled the family’s living room — and the echoes of his mother singing will show up, of course, in Bryan’s books, as shown in the illustrations reproduced in this book. Bryan’s childhood was punctuated by drawing, painting, reciting poetry, and listening to the Bible stories his mother read to him and his siblings. His recalls how they were the first black family to join the pretty St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church — where he would one day design a stained-glass window over the altar, showing a magnificent, dark and honey-hued image of Jesus rising from the tomb. After high school, he went, portfolio in hand, to a prominent art institute. A representative there told him his artwork was the best he had seen and that “it would be a waste to give a scholarship to a colored person.”
Bryan persevered. He was accepted at the Cooper Union School of Art and Engineering, and his world widened. After serving in WWII and graduating from Columbia, he taught art (from prep school to Dartmouth), and eventually made his way to the peak of children’s book illustrators. This autobiography does not brag about Bryan’s multiple awards; instead, it beams with his humble, respectful and indomitable creative spirit. It invites us all to reach inside and listen to that still, precious voice … and to celebrate life while you can.
Of Ashley Bryan’s nearly three dozen books, which do you like best? One of my favorite read-alouds for children ages 7-9 is Beautiful Blackbird.
In Bryan’s rousing read-aloud version of an Ila folktale from Zambia, all the birds have solid-colored feathers, with no patterns or specks of black. Only Blackbird has black feathers that “gleam all colors in the sun.” Generous Blackbird stirs up a brew in his medicine gourd, and then give
This Black History Month, why not introduce 
children to one of today’s most creative children’s book illustrators: Bryan Collier. A good place to start is with Collier’s latest, a picture-book biography that won the 2011 Coretta Scott King Award and a Caldecott Honor for its stunning illustrations.
Hill, Laban Carrick. Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave. illus. by Bryan Collier. Little Brown, 2010.
Hill’s spare, poetic text opens with the image of dirt. “But to Dave it was clay, the plain and basic stuff upon which he learned to form a life as a slave nearly two hundred years ago.” The simple words work with Collier’s art to focus on the growth and development of a unique artist. Known simply as Dave, this talented man went on to create about 40,000 pots, some of which are displayed in museums today. The concise biography gains heft and power with Collier’s textured, earth-colored watercolor/collage images. The illustrations feature Dave’s strong hands, especially in Collier’s four-paneled foldout showing how “Dave’s hands, buried in the mounded mud, pulled out the shape of a jar.” Collier clearly situates the artist’s remarkable achievement within the context of South Carolina’s lush green landscape and its cotton fields, worked by enslaved field hands. Living in a time when that state outlawed the education of slaves, Dave often wrote brief poems on his pots. The final illustration shows him picking up a stick to write a few lines that “let us know that he was here.” Facts about Dave’s life and art, a photograph of his work, and the author’s sources are included. This is a beautiful book that will lead to discussions on justice, slavery, and the nature of creativity.
Note: Collier is not only an outstanding artist, he’s a wonderful person to invite to your library. I invited Bryan to speak at my school library about six years ago, and he was EVERYTHING you hope for in a visiting author/illustrator: He was warm, professional, inspiring, enthusiastic, and engaging. It was a memorable day for children and teachers alike. Leave a comment if you’d like to hear more, or if you’d like to share your experiences with authors/illustrators. In my next post, I’ll feature another children’s book author who was a fabulous visitor, Carole Boston Weatherford.
A Sampling of Collier’s Outstanding Books
Freedom River by Doreen Rappaport. Jump at the Sun, 2000. Ages 9-12. Rappaport and Collier make a fantastic team: exemplary nonfiction prose and striking, thought-provoking collages. This thrilling, true story tells of a little-known hero: John Parker, an ex-slave who helped hundreds escape from slavery into freedom. Risking all, Parker crossed the Ohio River time after time to bring slaves from slave-owning Kentucky to the free state of Ohio. Rappaport zeroes in on one particular family Parker managed to free from the Shrofe plantation. She builds tension by repeating simple action verbs: “Run, run”; “Row, row”; “Listen, listen.
I found a great site featuring Coretta Scott King Award winning books at TeachingBooks.net.
The site presents all the winning and honor books with presentations from the authors and illustrators.
Hear illustrator Sean Qualls talk about how he illustrated
BEFORE JOHN WAS A JAZZ GIANT by Carole Boston Weatherford. (2009 Illustrator Honor book)
What a great way to connect with the creative talents who made these books happen!
What a great way to celebrate Black History Month.
The Coretta Scott King Awards were presented this week for outstanding books for children and young adults created by African-American authors and illustrators.
The King Author Book honor selection is MARE'S WAR by Tanita S. Davis.
The King Illustrator award was given to MY PEOPLE, illustrated by Charles R. Smith, Jr. and written by Langston Hughes. The honor book for the illustrator award is THE NEGRO SPEAKS OF RIVERS, illustrated by E. B. Lewis and also written by Langston Hughes.
Congratulations to all the winners!
For more than 20 years, I have read and promoted winners of the Coretta Scott King Book Awards, and after reading the last word of each extraordinary title, I close the book, look at the cover, and think to myself, “Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be on the Coretta Scott King (CSK) jury and choose the winning titles?” My opportunity of a lifetime came in January 2008 when I was notified by the chair of the CSK Book Awards Committee that I had been elected to serve on the 2009 jury. I was floored, but the feeling was amazing.
Amazement turned into excitement as the first titles to be considered for awards arrived in February. Weekly, one or more titles would arrive, and I was simply awed by the quality and array of works being published thanks to such talented writers and illustrators. As months passed and more and more books arrived (one week, I received twelve YA novels within three days) excitement morphed into concern. When am I going to find time to evaluate and review all of these books? How will the jury ever choose winners from this wide range of titles? The more I read, the more I realized how easy exceptional works of literature are distinguishable from “good reads.” By December, more than 100 titles had been reviewed and evaluated, and at the close of the nomination period, 40 titles remained on the jury’s consideration list for 2009 CSK Book Awards.
Closed jury deliberations began at 1 pm on Friday, January 23, 2009. As we introduced ourselves and shared our passions for children’s literature, feelings of amazement, excitement, and concern were joined by anxiety. Seven jurors with varied literary backgrounds from across the United States have fifteen hours to select three awards from forty titles – is it possible? Combine a well-organized and experienced jury chair, six knowledgeable jurors with a unified purpose, and a clear set of selection criteria, and the answer is yes! As each of the forty titles was brought to the table for discussion, we kept several essential questions in mind: Is the work outstanding? Does it inspire and educate readers? Will it honor the legacy of Mrs. Coretta Scott King? Titles receiving positive responses to all three of these questions remained on the table. Late Saturday night, when all discussions had ceased, final votes were cast and tabulated, and winning seals were affixed to book jackets, I went back to my hotel room exhausted, but confident that the best books nominated for the 2009 CSK awards had been selected.
The Youth Media Awards Press Conference was held on Monday, January 26th – what a rousing way to celebrate a year’s worth of comprehensive reading and fifteen hours of intense deliberations. The jury members called the award winning authors and illustrators to congratulate them prior to the international announcement. Each jury member was given the opportunity to call an award winner. Most were successful, but unfortunately, I was unable to reach my assigned winner – the telephone numbers listed on the contact sheet were either disconnected or temporarily out of service. Unbeknown to me, my moment of disbelief was caught on film.
The official press conference began at 7:45 am. As the procession, representing jury members of all the children’s award committees, was led down a staircase into the grand ballroom, the moment was reminiscent of Oscar night. The media, librarians, publishers, and others lined both sides of the staircase waving, applauding, taking pictures, and shaking hands, when possible. Many whispered, “Congratulations,” in my ear while others murmured, “Come on, tell me who won the award.”
Without a doubt, serving on the jury of the 2009 Coretta Scott King Book Awards Committee was the highlight of my professional career, and it was hard to believe there were more thrills ahead. Award winning authors and illustrators were honored today, July 14, 2009, at the annual CSK Awards Breakfast during ALA Annual Conference in Chicago. In addition to recognizing the 2009 award recipients, CSK celebrates its 40th anniversary, a monumental milestone sure to be treasured by all attendees. To learn more about the awards breakfast or view highlights from the press conference, visit the Coretta Scott King Book Awards Committee website.
--Alan R. Bailey
Editor's note: Alan R. Bailey, Assistant Professor & Education Curriculum Librarian at J.Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, can be reached at [email protected]. We are grateful to him for sharing his experiences with us.
By: Jennie,
on 12/29/2007
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I do love books by Julius Lester.
Day of Tears? Fantastic! I had to read it for a lit conference and was extremely disappointed by the discussion we had on it. No one could get beyond "Gee, Slavery really sucked" to discuss why Lester's tale of it was such a powerful stand out in a sea of stories about the same general subject. No one brought up that it was one of the few stories to really explore the emotional impact instead of the physical one... powerful stuff.
In the hands of a lesser storyteller, The Old African would have been absolutely dreadful instead of being as wonderful as it is.
Most recently, I read
Cupid: A Tale of Love and Desire. This is classic Greek Myth, but told in a vernacular, Southern African American story telling style.
Because of Lester's great skill, it totally worked and I loved it.
Psyche is beautiful to the point of it being a burden. Cupid is the son of Venus and a total mama's boy. When Venus (who is aging) is jealous of Pysche's incredible beauty, she orders Cupid to poison her with destructive love. (I have to say I was reminded of that exchange in
Love Actually "I have say I'm a bit relieved, I thought it was something worse." "Worse than the total agony of being in love?!")
Anyway, of course, Cupid falls in love with her. He enlists Apollo's help. Apollo is not a fan of Cupid, so tells Psyche's father that she will marry a great monster.
In the end, Venus attempts to seek revenge and true love--both Psyche's love for Venus and various other deities' love for Psyche is put to the test.
I know some readers will (and are) annoyed by the storyteller's voice and his meditations on story, beauty, love, and lust, but I really really enjoyed it. I especially enjoyed the comments on how much work love is. You don't get that truth a lot in YA literature.
Shout out to
Bookshelves of Doom for bringing it to my attention.
Now, to catch up on something I read last year, I didn't like
Time's Memory nearly as much.
And here's where Lester's genius is more of a burden than a blessing-- I simply expected more from him.
The
nyama spirit embodies Nat, a young man who is a slave on a Virginia plantation. He's in love with the Ellen, the plantation owner's daughter. Nat's father is the leader of a bloody slave revolt.
Highly mystical and spiritual, it just didn't work as well as it should have and ultimately left me dissatisfied. However, there is a lot going on in the book, so I would highly recommend it for book discussions.
Another I read at the same time, which won the Coretta Scott King Award is Sharon Draper's
Copper Sun.
This is another fantastically written story about slavery. There isn't as much under the surface, but it tells the story of Amari, from her time in Africa through the middle passage and slavery. It also tells of her friendship with Polly, an indentured servant. The two run away--but instead of going North, they go South, to Spanish controlled Florida.
What I really liked about this book was the unflinching look at many things we usually don't see. We usually don't read of the coastal slave castle before being put on the boats, or how other Africans helped round people up to be sold.
We know of, but usually don't see in fiction, the rape of women by lonely sailors every night.
I also really appreciated how nuanced the characters were--there were good people and and bad people and people who were good and bad. Some of the good people where white, some of the bad people were black. Many authors, when telling a story of slavery, go the understandable route of making all white people bad. Or really, really good. Draper writes people as she knows them. No one's all good or all bad. And goodness doesn't fall on color lines.
By doing so, she writes a very accurate and incredible tale of slavery that covers what we learned in history class, and a whole lot more.
So many goodies to share, so little time before I go to work.
You heard it here first... you know, maybe... but a sixteen-year-old translated Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows into French and put it online. He’s kind of in trouble, but I’ve got to admire the determination. And what’s the deal with the French publishing the ending of the book but running that article upside down? Silly French people.
In the Potter vein, if you want somewhere to go and talk amongst yourselves about the book, head to Scholar’s Blog Spoiler Zone and spill your guts. Also on Potter, I was surprised that my quoting the phrase “who doesn’t know Hogwarts from genital warts” didn’t get more of you to check out Defective Yeti’s hilarious post from the point of view of the Amazon warehouse employee. I mean, I just used the words “genital warts” in my blog. Do you realize what that’s going to do to my keyword searches? The least you can do is read it.
If NerdFighters (do you think that word is actually a CamelCase?) donate to the campaign of Daniel Biss or to the Foundation to Decrease WorldSuck, John Green will entertain us. At two hundred donations he says, “I will find a cat, lick it, wax two limbs of your choice while drinking a thoroughly blenderized Happy Meal from McDonald’s.” I don’t care much about the waxing or the Happy Meal, but I deeply love the idea of him going up to a neighbor and introducing himself by asking to lick their cat for a videoblog. The donations are so close. We can make it happen. Oh, and blogbuddy Kelly Fineman makes an appearance in a later video. You go, girl! If you adore Brotherhood 2.0, check out the fabulous article written by Little Willow. Her piece was also part of...
The Edge of the Forest, where I contributed a self-interview about the 48 Hour Book Challenge. Extra props to Kelly for her work getting up another great issue even after computer crashes and scheduling problems galore.
I heard from more than one place that The Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar endorses Junie B. Jones, but I’m giving the nod to Bookshelves of Doom because, man, that chick has been a posting fiend lately! Anyway, at the SPOGG Blog (what wouldn’t you give for that name), they talk about the recent blast on the books by The New York Times and support Junie B. Take that, naysayers! Personally, I am highly in favor of Junie B. Jones books, and wrote about it here.
Speaking of Junie B., remember how I said I was going to send Barbara Park my article and write her a letter for Tell an Author You Care Day (Week)? I didn’t know where to send it, but her publicist saw my post and told me that I could send the letter to her attention. Of course the email was in my new, exciting MotherReader email and I kinda had forgotten I had that new thing. But the lovely publicist forwarded my article and website on to Ms. Park, and she was thrilled with what I wrote! That makes me so happy in my heart! As it turns out, in the summer laziness I’ve been feeling, I hadn’t sent the letter yet, so I’m going to get it out of here and in the hands of my writing idol soon. Soon. Yes, soon!
On the topic of laziness, I feel the need to apologize. I thought that with less on my plate in the summer I’d be more focused, but that has not been the case. I’ve neglected to respond to emails, including forgetting that I had an entire separate email account. I didn’t send my check for the Kidlitosphere conference. (It’s in the mail!) I have books I was totally going to review, but I’ve slacked off. Generally, I just want to say that it’s not you, it’s me.
Oh, and my beach visit was lovely. We only spent one day at the ocean, but what a day. Often we see dolphins offshore, but this time they were really close. In fact, a pair of them swam about three yards away from my eleven-year-old daughter! I went running in to join her, but with my glasses on I couldn’t go deep enough. Stupid bad eyesight. Still, extremely cool.
You’re either a Junie B. Jones fan, or you’re not. I am. I’d love to bring you over to my side, but I won’t fool myself that I can convince everybody. But I can try.
The new book is out — Junie B., First Grader: Dumb Bunny — and it’s as funny as ever. I read it aloud to my girls last Sunday, and my husband read it this Sunday. This time, Junie B. and her class are invited to an egg hunt at richie Lucille’s house. Here’s my favorite passage from the book:
“I just don’t get it,” Lucille grouched. “How could anyone forget the Easter Bunny? The Easter Bunny brings candy right to your door.”
Lennie did a frown at her.
“He doesn’t bring candy to my door, Lucille,” he said. “The Easter Bunny is a different religion than me. I’m Jewish.”
Shirley nodded.
“I’m Jewish, too, Lucille,” she said. “I’ve never even been to an Easter-egg hunt before. What do you wear to something like that, anyway?”
Lucille stood up and fluffed herself.
“Well — since the Easter Bunny and I are the same religion — I’m going to wear a fancy Easter dress, Shirley,” she said.
Shirley though for a minute. Then she nodded.
“Hmm. Then I guess I will wear a fancy Jewish dress,” she said.
Lennie’s eyes lighted up.
“Really, Shirley? You mean we have our own clothing line?” he asked.
He smiled.
“Then I think I will wear some fancy Jewish pants,” he said.
The discussion continues until the teacher, Mr. Scary, explains that it is not a religious party, but more of a spring picnic with an egg-hunt activity. Apparently, there’s a special prize if you find the golden egg, and that lovely prize is a playdate with Lucille in her indoor pool and everyone wants to swim in that hot water pool. A fun book for Easter, or really any time you need a laugh.
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Thank you so much. How could anyone read this post and not be inspired?
Like the blog! And very interesting post, thank you
Thanks, Ivan. I’m glad you enjoyed the post and wrote in!
-Mark
[...] Spend a moment watching award winning children’s book illustrator E.B. Lewis demonstrate painting some watercolor scenes for the Austin Chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (Austin SCBWI) back in February and read more about the work and ideas of this New Jersey based fine artist in the latest post on How To Be A Children’s Book Illustrator. [...]
Great post, Mark. And congratulations on your award! You do so much for the art community!
Thank you, Laurie! I’m so glad you liked the post. Hey, anytime you’d like to write about something related to children’s books, illustration, art or your own projects as a writer or illustrator — in other words, do a guest post here (including an image or two) and link to anything meaningful or related that you want, please let me know. I love it when students post — especially when they’re already writers, like you are. And I do offer a bit of payment when I accept an original piece.
-Mark
Thank you, Elizabeth and/or Lynette! Your blog is charming.
Mark