Monthly Archives: August 2018

Exhibit, Illustrator Award, Past Events and Important People

Painter and Poet: The Art of Ashley Bryan

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Ashley Bryan
Let It Shine Book book cover and artwork (2008)

Painter and Poet: The Art of Ashley Bryan is an extraordinary exhibit* at the Portland Museum of Art (PMA) in Portland, Maine, honoring the work of 2012 Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Lifetime Achievement winner Ashley Bryan. The exhibit consists of original artwork from 14 of Bryan’s books, including two that won the Coretta Scott King Award for Illustration: Let It Shine (2008) and Beautiful Blackbird (2004), as well as several CSK Honor award-winning books, including Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life (2017) and Ashley Bryan’s ABC of African American Poetry (1998).

Beautiful Blackbird book cover and artwork (2004)

For Bryan, a renowned artist, writer, and storyteller, rhythm is essential to life, and this idea carries into the art he creates for every book.

His use of vibrant colors along with rich language gives each book a sense of movement. His illustrations offer a visual lyricism.

A perfect complement to this exhibition is the addition of a film in Bryan’s own expressive voice describing his childhood and the influences that led him to a life of sharing African American spirituals, poetry, and stories.

Freedom Over Me book cover and artwork (2017)

To make the experience even better is the addition of colorful, moveable seating at the perfect height for children, set among wooden bins filled with his books at their fingertips.

One could spend quite a bit of time just sitting, slowly turning the pages of his books while listening to his familiar cadence and resonant voice.

Ashley Bryan creates beautiful books that beg to be read aloud and shared over and over and over again.

*This exhibition, organized by The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, Massachusetts, is on view through November 25, 2018.

Photos of Ashley Bryan’s art were taken at the exhibit with permission from the museum.

Louise Capizzo is a Teen and Youth Services Librarian for a public library in Scarborough, ME. A member of the CSK Technology Committee, Louise is also a blogger for The Nonfiction Detectives.

Book Reviews & Recommendations, Programming Ideas

Freedom on the High Seas: Teaching Maritime History with CSK Books and Authors

“Very often, the way to freedom was not by land, but by sea. Countless slaves made it to freedom with the help of a ‘black Jack,’ a black seaman or a Nantucket whaleman.” ~Patricia and Fredrick McKissack, Black Hands, White Sails: The Story of African American Whalers

Did you know that from the early to mid-1800’s, a significant number of free men of color worked as waterfront workers and seafaring men and that Frederick Douglass escaped bondage by disguising himself as a sailor? Or that the early American whaling industry was roughly equivalent to the oil industry of today and was strongly connected to abolition? While it’s well known that black people were transported to the Americas aboard slave vessels, many also used ships and various types of maritime work to secure their freedom.   Several CSK Award winning authors and illustrators have written or illustrated books about real and imagined heroes from this fascinating part of American history.

FOR YOUNGER READERS

CSK Author Award winner Andrea Davis Pinkney’s Peggony Po: A Whale of a Tale is a Pinocchio-meets-Moby Dick tall tale.  This story pairs beautifully with Lesa Cline-Ransome’s Whale Trails, Before and Now. In addition, Words Set Me Free: The Story of Young Frederick Douglass, written by Lesa Cline-Ransome and illustrated by CSK Illustrator Honor winner James Ransome, shows the important role that the shipyards of Baltimore and the Eastern Shore played in opening the path to Douglass’ bright future.

I, Matthew Henson: Polar Explorer by Coretta Scott King Award winner Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrated by CSK/Steptoe Award winner Eric Velasquez introduces young readers to Matthew Henson, the groundbreaking explorer who began his career as a cabin boy at the age of twelve. Weatherford’s book pairs well with Deborah Hopkinson’s Keep On!: The Story of Matthew Henson, Co-discoverer of the North Pole. This teacher’s guide supports    the content of both titles.

FOR MIDDLE GRADES AND TEENS

Two rich and informative chapter books about blacks in maritime history are Black Hands, White Sails: The Story of African American Whalers by Patricia and Fredrick McKissack and How They Got Over: African Americans and the Call of the Sea written by 2018 Coretta Scott King–Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement author, Eloise Greenfield and illustrated by Jan Spivey Gilchrist. Both of these CSK related titles can be nicely supplemented with graphic novels The Amazing Adventures of Equiano and The Prison-Ship Adventure of James Forten, Revolutionary War Captive .  

Public and school librarians can incorporate these titles in ocean- and pirate- themed displays or create book bundles that include the above-named titles alongside an assortment of water-themed folktales, nonfiction titles related geography, oceanography, navigation and astronomy.

Classroom and homeschooling teachers can use these books to expand their teaching of topics related to African Americans in the antebellum South and Reconstruction years. Teachers may also choose to incorporate Black Sailors and Sea Shanties, an electronic resource, into their presentation of this material.

Whether offered in the library or classroom, these resources will  shine light upon an often overlooked yet significant aspect of global history.

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Jené Watson is a writer, mother and public librarian who lives in suburban Atlanta.  She loves arts and history and is the author of The Spirit That Dreams: Conversations with Women Artists of Color (indigopen.com).