Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave
by Laban Carrick Hill, illustrated by Bryan Collier. 2010. New York: Litte, Brown and Company. (9780316107310).
Media: watercolor and collage on 400lb Arches watercolor paper
Author Website: http://www.labanhill.com/
Illustrator Website: http://bryancollier.com/
Awards and Honors: New York Times Bestseller; 2011 Caldecott Honor; 2011 Coretta Scott King Gold Award for Illustrations; Chicago Public Library's 2010 Best of the Best List; New York Public Library's 2010 Best 100 Books of the Year; Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People, 2011
Annotation:
At once personal and historical, this is the extraordinary story of Dave, a poet, potter and slave living in South Carolina during the 19th century.
Personal Reaction:
Dave the Potter is the extraordinary story of Dave, a poet, potter and slave living in South Carolina during the 19th century. Laban Hill's simple yet noble prose and Bryan Collier's rich collage illustrations come together in this book to tell the story of one man who, despite having all freedom stolen from him, created lasting beauty and, we can imagine, a sense of dignity in his life. Dave's pots were meant to be functional pieces, but their beauty is plain to be seen. What's most incredible about his work is that on many of his pots, he inscribed short poems. In a time when reading and writing was forbidden to slaves, this was really something exceptional. This book really speaks to the innate human urge to create art and poetry that we hope will outlast our own temporal lives.
ellington was not a street
by Ntozake Shange, illustrated by Kadir Nelson, 2004. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. (0689828845).
Author Website: http://www.ntozakeshange.org/home.html
Illustrator Website: http://www.kadirnelson.com/
Media: oil
Awards and Honors: ALA Coretta Scott King Award for Illustration , ALA Notable Children's Books , Capitol Choices List (DC), CCBC Choices (Cooperative Children's Book Council), Chicago Public Library's Best of the Best , Coretta Scott King Award, Kansas State Reading Circle Primary Titles, NAACP Image Award Nominee, NCTE Notable Children's Books in the Language Arts, NYPL 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing, Once Upon a World Award (Simon Wiesenthal Center & Museum of Tolerance), Parents' Choice Award
Annotation: A personal tribute to poet Ntozake Shange's childhood home and the influential men who gathered there.
Personal Reaction/ Discussion of Artwork:
Poet Ntozake Shange's childhood home was frequented by some of the most influential African Americans of the 20th century. From W.E.B. DuBois, to "Dizzy" Gillespie, Paul Robeson and the eponymous Duke Ellington, these "men/ who changed the world" are remembered in Shange's poem and expressively depicted in Kadir Nelson's oil illustrations.
If Shange's poem comes off a bit solemn- as an ode to what used to be and now is "mere memory", Nelson's illustrations are a celebration. His portraits are beautifully rendered in oil with special attention given to the features and expressions of his subjects. We see this extraordinary group of men sing, mingle and converse (about exactly what, we are left to imagine, but we can infer they are likely matters of significance). Nelson's oil illustrations are rich with color and detail. On the cover of ellington was not a street the author appears as a pig-tailed young child of seven or eight, holding an LP copy of Duke Ellington's "Mood Indigo"- the song from which the title of Shange's original poem is taken. Opposite the title page the author appears again, this time as a teenager seated on a piano bench while holding the same record. Observant readers will notice on the first page of the book that the woman on Ellington Street with the red umbrella is also, in fact, our narrator. Within the body of the poem, Shange is depicted as a very young child, perhaps two or three years old at the most, dwarfed by the musicians, politicians and activists who visit her home. Other reviewers have pointed out that the age of the narrator in the bulk of the illustrations is at odds with the age of the intended audience of the book. Nelson takes artistic liberties here; by depicting Shange as a tiny child, the men are transformed into grand and imposing figures- literally as well as figuratively.
Curriculum Connection: Middle School- Language Arts/ poetry
Harlem
a poem by Walter Dean Myers, illustrated by Christopher Myers. New York: Scholastic. 1997. (0590543407).
Author Website: http://www.walterdeanmyers.net/
Illustrator Website: none
Media: ink, gouache and collage
Awards and Honors: Caldecott Honor Book, 1998; Coretta Scott King Award; Selected title of the White Ravens, 1998; Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, Fiction Honor, 1997
Annotation:
A boldly illustrated, vibrant and sophisticated tale of the storied New York neighborhood and the people who moved there for the promise of a better life.
Personal Response:
"Harlem was a promise..." begins Walter Dean Myers' poetic tribute to the community, culture and contributions of Harlem and its people. A hope for a better life drew people to the neighborhood where they created a vibrant new community. Myers has written much about Harlem in his novels for young adults, and he manages to encapsulate the spirit and soul of the neighborhood in this poem. Myers' rhythmic prose, its cadence reminiscent of a preacher's sermon, vividly conveys the sights, sounds, smells and colors of Harlem. Christopher Myers' collage illustrations, rendered in bold warm tones accented with strong indigos focus primarily on the residents, both young and old, engaged in play, worship and social activities. This is a beautiful and lyrical book, which will likely appeal to an older audience. Those older readers already familiar with landmarks like the Apollo and the Cotton Club and figures such as Langston Hughes and W.E.B. Du Bois will get the most out of this poem- its references are too sophisticated for elementary or even most middle school readers.
