​Lynette Smith and Carolyn Angus
 
The picture book biographies reviewed in this column introduce readers of all ages to creative individuals who have made notable contributions in the visual, literary, and performing arts. The books are good choices for reading aloud to spark interest and encourage discussion in classrooms, libraries, and homes as well as for independent reading.  

​Bea Breaks Barriers!: How Florence Beatrice Price’s Music Triumphed Over Prejudice. Caitlin DeLems. Illus. by Tonya Engels. (2024). Calkins Creek.
Growing up in Little Rock, Arkansas, Bea, who loved all types of music, gave her first piano recital at age four, excelled at school, and broke barriers. After graduation, she headed north with dreams of becoming a composer. Bea, one of two Black students at Boston’s New England Conservatory of Music, graduated with honors. She returned to Arkansas to teach in Black colleges, married, and moved to Chicago. Tonya Engels’ acrylic-and-oil paintings beautifully set the scene for Caitlin DeLems’ picture book biography of Florence Beatrice Price (1887-1953), who created many musical compositions including a symphony performed in 1933 at the Chicago World’s Fair and an arrangement of the traditional spiritual “My Soul’s Been Anchored in de Lord,” which was sung by contralto Marion Anderson on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1939, but was largely overlooked until after her death. Back matter includes author’s and illustrator’s notes, a musical glossary, a timeline, archival photographs, a list of artists during the time period, and a bibliography. (PreK Up)
—LS

​Everywhere Beauty Is Harlem: The Vision of Photographer Roy DeCarava. Gary Golio. Illus. by E. B. Lewis. (2024). Calkins Creek.
“It doesn’t have to be pretty to be true, but if it’s true, it’s beautiful. Truth is beautiful.” Gary Golio’s present-tense narrative with numerous quotes and E. B. Lewis’ expressive watercolor illustrations introduce readers to Black photographer Roy DeCarava (1919-2009), who gained worldwide recognition for his work. While working for the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in the 1940s, DeCarava has his 35mm camera in hand as he moves through Harlem taking pictures of people walking through the neighborhood, lounging on their stoops, and playing in the street. Life does not pass Roy unnoticed; Roy and his camera see beauty everywhere in Harlem. Back matter includes an extensive author’s note, a timeline, archival photographs, a bibliography with sources of quotes cited, and a list of museums featuring DeCarava’s photographs. (PreK Up)  
—LS

​Extraordinary Magic: The Storytelling Life of Virginia Hamilton. Nina Crews. (2024). Christy Ottaviano.
Nina Crews’ picture book biography of Virginia Hamilton (1934-2002), a compilation of 16 free verse poems and collage-style digital illustrations, focuses on her childhood. Growing up on her family’s farm in Ohio, Ginny, who was named for the state of Virginia, where her Grandfather Levi was born into slavery, was free to be a dreamer, a wanderer, and her own unique self. She believed words held extraordinary magic and loved listening to her family’s stories. When she was nine, she decided to become a writer and filled “The Notebook” with stories of her family’s love, losses, rage, and dreams. At 24, she moved to New York City. Her first book, Zeely, was published in 1967, and she won the Newbery Medal in 1975 for her novel M. C. Higgins, the Great. The back matter for this inspiring story of “the extraordinary magic” of Virginia Hamilton includes a bibliography, a selected list of Hamilton’s books, an author’s note, a timeline, and archival photographs. (PreK Up)
—LS

​The Fastest Drummer: Clap Your Hands for Viola Smith! Dean Robbins. Illus. by Susanna Chapman. (2024). Candlewick.
Viola was the youngest of the Smith sisters to join the family jazz band. Her introductory efforts on the drums were offbeat and terrible. However, she had fun, and as she practiced hard her drumming became “bolder, flashier, and faster.” She toured the Midwest with her sisters until the family band broke up. Although it was considered unladylike to play jazz, Viola started her own women’s band, The Coquettes. She built her own drum kit and with her group became famous. Viola, who continued working as a percussionist and enjoyed playing different kinds of music until the age of 107, opened doors for other women instrumentalists and is recognized as one of the greatest drummers of all time. Susanna Chapman’s retro, mixed media illustrations for Dean Robbin’s energetic biography of Viola Smith (1912-2020) clearly depict the jazz musician and her bold, fast, flashy technique. Back matter includes an author’s note, a glossary of musical terms related to jazz, and resources. (PreK Up) 
—LS

​Jimmy’s Rhythm & Blues: The Extraordinary Life of James Baldwin. Michelle Meadows. Illus. by Jamiel Law. (2024). Harper.
Powerful words and images tell the story of James “Jimmy” Baldwin (1924-1987), who grew up in Harlem loving stories and finding joy in music, books, and family. As a Black, gay man, however, Jimmy was familiar with the blues and dreamed of an equitable world filled with love. He used his powerful voice to write The Fire Next Time (1963), essays on racism, and to speak up for racial equality during Civil Rights demonstrations. The poetic style of Michelle Meadows’ text, coupled with Jamiel Law’s expressive illustrations, chronicles Jimmy’s life from a small shy boy who kids picked on, to becoming preacher as a teenager, to eventually returning to writing and creating a body of work that led to his recognition as one of the most influential literary figures of the 20th century. Back matter includes an author’s note, a list of Baldwin’s books, a timeline, and sources. (PreK Up)
—LS 

​A Mind of Her Own: The Story of Mystery Writer Agatha Christie. Robyn McGrath. Illus. by Liz Wong. (2024). Beach Lane.
This picture book biography tells the fascinating story of Agatha Christie (1890-1976), from her childhood as a curious, imaginative girl to her recognition as “the Queen of Crime.” Although young Agatha has a mind full of stories, she struggles to get her ideas down on paper, teachers reject her efforts, and she stops writing. However, with a mind filled with possibilities following work as a nurse in a hospital caring for wounded World War I soldiers, Agatha accepts her sister Madge’s challenge to write a detective story. After years of putting together the puzzle pieces of solving a crime—Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?—in her head, writing, submitting, and persevering rejections, her manuscript is accepted and, as is shown in an illustration of Agatha happily reading a copy of her first published detective story, The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920), she is a published author. Back matter includes “More about Agatha Christie,” author’s and illustrator’s notes, a list of mystery vocabulary, and a bibliography) (PreK Up) 
—CA

Signs of Hope: The Revolutionary Art of Sister Corita Kent. Mara Rockliff. Illus. by Melissa Sweet. (2024). Abrams.
Sister Corita Kent changed the lives of young people by using unique and creative methods to teach students in her messy, noisy classroom and, in the 1960s, transformed the art world with messages of love, hope, peace, and justice amid splashes of color and ad slogans. Her perspective was that “work is play, imagination means adventure, and there is no line between life and art.” Mara Rockliff’s lively text peppered with quotes and Melissa Sweet’s mixed-media collage illustrations entice the reader to join Sister Corita’s students in observing art in the ordinary by looking closely and carefully at the world a little at a time. Sister Corita was small in stature, but her artwork was “big and loud.” The back matter for this picture book biography of Corita Kent (1918-1986), known as the “Pop Art nun,” includes author’s and illustrator’s notes, a timeline, sources of quotations, and resources. (PreK Up) 
—LS ​

​A Song for August: The Inspiring Life of Playwright August Wilson. Sally Denmead. Illus. by Alleanna Harris. (2024). Levine Querido.
A Song for August is a picture book tribute to Black American August Wilson (1945-2005), who is recognized as one of the greatest American playwrights. Growing up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, August loved words and learned to read at the age of four, but he hated school where he was bullied. When a teacher did not believe that he had written his paper about Napoleon Bonaparte, he tore it up, walked out, and started going to the public library rather than to school. He learned everything about the Black experience that he could from reading books by Black authors and by listening to records including those of blues singer Bessie Smith. He also studied paintings by Black artists and took notes on conversations he overhead in his neighborhood. Wilson wrote his first full-length play, Jittney, in 1977, and went on to write a play about Black Americans for each decade of the 20th century. Back matter includes notes on Wilson’s Century Cycle and an author’s note. (PreK Up)
—CA

​Whirligigs: The Wonderous Windmills of Vollis Simpson’s Imagination. Carole Boston Weatherford. Illus. by Edwin Fotheringham. (2024). Calkins Creek.
The whimsical illustrations in this picture book biography take readers on a spinning journey into the life of Vollis Simpson (1919-2013). One of 12 children growing up on a farm in North Carolina, Vollis was tinkering and fixing things before he could read. “If you don’t try something, he figured, you don’t learn anything.” While in the army air corps during World War II, he built a wind-powered washing machine out of salvaged airplane parts and a motorcycle from a bike. After leaving the army, Vollis ran a machine-repair shop and house-moving business in his hometown of Lucama, North Carolina. Later, after he was injured, his life changed. Bored with watching television, he began building windmill-like sculptures on the family farm, and his passion for creating things from metal scraps resulted in a colorful spinning field of windmills. Back matter contains an author’s note and photographs of Simpson’s wonderous windmills. (PreK Up) 
—LS

​The Wire Zoo: How Elizabeth Berrien Learned to Turn Wire into Amazing Art. Natasha Wing. Illus. by Joanie Stone. (2024). Paula Wiseman.
Young Elizabeth loved animals and attempted to draw pictures of them as she saw them in her mind with beautiful energy lines moving across their bodies, but her portraits were always just scribbles. She tried other art forms with no success until Mr. Corran, the instructor in an experimental sculpture class, encouraged her to “think of things in terms of problem solving.” When he gave Elizabeth a roll of thin wire, she twisted and bent it into the shape of a cat, and with continued experimentation, she began creating three-dimensional wire sculptures of animals. The back matter of this picture book biography of Elizabeth Berrien (b. 1950), the “Godmother of Wire,” includes more about the “wire zoo” of animals she continues to create that are exhibited worldwide and photographs.  (PreK Up) 
—CA

​Chelsey Bahlmann Bollinger & Carolyn Angus
The picture book biographies reviewed in this column introduce readers of all ages to creative individuals who have made notable contributions in the visual, literary, and performing arts. Included are books that are great choices for reading aloud to spark interest and discussion in classrooms, libraries, and homes as well as for independent reading.

As Glenn as Can Be. Sarah Ellis. Illus. by Nancy Vo. (2022). Groundwood.
This intriguing picture book biography showcases Canadian child prodigy and celebrated composer and classical pianist Glenn Gould (1932-1982). The dust jacket and book cover and the front and back endpapers present strikingly contrasting images that complement Sarah Ellis’ rhythmic narrative in which she describes Glenn Gould’s likes and dislikes of just about everything as both a child and adult. For example, he liked to learn things, but disliked school, and he loved playing the piano, but hated giving concerts. Ellis’ text clearly presents Gould as an eccentric who wanted to make music in his own way. Back matter includes an author’s note, books for further reading, and information about listening to some of Gould’s famous recordings. As Glen as Can Be encourages children to accept others and to identify their own perceptions of the world and to understand how they fit within it.
—CBB

Beautiful Useful Things: What William Morris Made. Beth Kephart. Illus. by Melodie Stacey. (2022). Cameron Kids.  
This beautifully designed book examines the life and work of William Morris (1834-1896), who wanted to honor the beauty of nature that he loved as a child by “making beautiful useful things” as an adult. A key figure of the Arts and Crafts Movement in Great Britain, Morris designed textiles, wallpaper, tapestry, rugs, stained-glass windows, and other handmade works of art featuring patterns from nature while factories were producing cheap, utilitarian things. Near the end of his life, Morris also created beautiful books, handcrafted one at a time. Back matter for this biography with a lyrical text and illustrations inspired by William Morris’ designs includes an image of Strawberry Thief, one of Morris’ fabrics with a motif of birds, flowers, and fruit; an author’s note; an illustrator’s note; and sources.
—CA

​​Bottle Tops: The Art of El Anatsui. Alison Goldberg. Illus. by Elizabeth Zunon. (2022). Lee & Low.
Ghanaian artist El Anatsui (b. 1944) creates works of art from used objects, “materials with a history.” He believes, “If you touch something, you leave a charge on it and anybody else touching it connects with you, in a way.” Alison Goldberg’s engaging text and Elizabeth Zunon’s colorful illustrations rendered in paint and cut-paper collage show the involved process El Anatsui follows in creating bottle top sculptures, his most famous works of art that can be seen all over the world. Back matter includes a double-page spread with photographs of El Anatsui and two of his sculptures, text sources, quotation sources, identification of featured artwork, and an art activity using recycled materials. This would be a great book to read aloud in art class or when discussing reducing, reusing, and recycling.
—CBB

​Celia Planted a Garden: The Story Celia Thaxter and Her Island Garden. Phyllis Root & Gary D. Schmidt. Illus. by Melissa Sweet. (2022). Candlewick.
The life story of poet Celia Laighton Thaxter (1835-1894) is presented in this picture book biography in which lines from her writing are featured. “The very act of planting a seed in the earth has in it to me something beautiful.” Melissa Sweet’s colorful illustration done in watercolor, gouache, and mixed media encourage the reader to examine and appreciate the beauty of the floral blossoms, birds, fish, and even the storms off the coast of Maine where Celia created island gardens as a child and an adult. Back matter includes a note on Celia Laighton Thaxter, a timeline listing the publications of her numerous poetry collections and detailing both the highlights and harsher realities of her life, and a bibliography.
—CBB

​Covered in Color: Christo & Jeanne-Claude’s Fabrics of Freedom. Elisa Boxer. Illus. by Susanna Chapman. (2022). Abrams.
Covered in Color celebrates the artistic genius of Bulgarian-born Christo (1935-2020), who grew up under Nazi occupation and then Communist control. In art school, he resisted the rigid rules that forced artists to paint propaganda and, at the age of 21, he fled to France where he began to create imaginative sculptures. Christo met and married Jeanne-Claude (1935-2009) in Paris, and the couple moved to New York City. A lively text and stunning mixed-media illustrations detail how they worked together to create the public art installations they became known for by wrapping and surrounding monuments, buildings, coast lines, and even islands with colorful fabrics. Back matter includes an extensive author’s note; an artist’s note; captioned photographic images of The Gates (February 2005, New York City) and L’Arc de Triomphe (September 2021, Paris); notes on quotations; and selected sources.
—CA

​Dazzlin’ Dolly: The Songwriting, Hit-Singing, Guitar-Picking Dolly Parton. Suzanne Slade. Illus. by Edwin Fotheringham. (2022). Calkins Creek.
Dolly Parton’s life story is presented in this biography written in a folksy, Southern dialect. Born into a poor family in the Tennessee mountains, Dolly Parton (b. 1946) used the gifts she was born with to become an award-winning country music star and a philanthropist. Edwin Fotheringham’s digitally created illustrations focus on key events in her childhood and early career. Throughout the book, Dolly talks about a bully called “stage fright.” She says that she “squashed that stage fright like a pesky June bug.” Young readers may be unfamiliar with this popular musician, but her life story may inspire them to follow their own dreams despite roadblocks in their lives. The back matter includes a timeline that includes the mention of some of her songs; an end note; and a bibliography of books, videos, websites, audio, and newspaper/magazine articles.
—CBB

Growing an Artist: The Story of a Landscaper and His Son. John Parra. (2022). Paula Wiseman.
In this autobiographical picture book, John Parra tells the story of his childhood experience of spending a day working with his papi, a landscape contractor, and his helper, Javier, mowing, trimming, and raking in a yard; selecting plants at a nursery; taking clippings and branches to the dump; and making plans for landscaping a client’s overgrown yard. Although John is bothered by being ignored when he waves to a classmate who is watching them working in his neighbor’s yard, he learns that his father loves his work and is proud of it. This experience makes John determined “to use his art to tell the stories of hardworking, passionate people who make the world more beautiful.” The endpapers for Parra’s memoir with colorful, detailed illustrations created with acrylic paints are blueprints of a landscape design. Also available as Cultivando a un artista (2022).
—CBB

​Hope Is an Arrow: The Story of Lebanese American Poet Kahlil Gibran. Cory McCarthy. Illus. by Ekua Holmes. (2022). Candlewick.
As an Arab child growing up in Lebanon, Gibran Kahlil Gibran was aware of the religious conflicts that divided the country; as an immigrant living in Boston with his mother and three siblings, he saw the division between the wealthy and the poor in America. His “secret hope” was to find a way of guiding people to come together through love and understanding in spite of their differences. As Cory McCarthy eloquently states, “Kahlil Gibran became an arrow shot true, an arrow made from the strength of Lebanese cedars and feathered by the spirit of American,” when he shared his message in The Prophet (1923). Ekua Holmes’ vibrant collage-and-acrylic artwork complements McCarthy’s poetic prose that incorporates quotes from Khalil Gibran. Back matter includes a source note, additional stories from Gibran’s life, and a bibliography.
—CA

A Land of Books: Dreams of Young Mexicah Word Painters. Duncan Tonatiuh. (2022). Abrams.
With hand-drawn, digitally collaged artwork inspired by Mesoamerican codices and a lyrical prose that includes Nahuatl words, Duncan Tonatiuh celebrates the importance of books in preserving Indigenous languages, stories, and traditions. “Our world, my brother, is an amoxtlalpan [a land of books],” says a Mexicah girl who is telling him about the important work of their parents as tlahcuilohqueh, painters of words. She explains to her brother (and to readers) their parents’ step-by-step creation of amoxtin, books that tell the stories of their god, people, and history, and says that they should dream about these amoxtin as they sleep and anticipate attending the flower festival where the villagers will be able to look at a book, an amoxtli, and hear a reader sing the words their parents painted. Back matter includes a glossary (with pronunciation guide, an extensive author’s note, a bibliography, and websites.
—CA

On Her Wings: The Story of Toni Morrison. Jerdine Nolen. Illus. by James E. Ransome. (2022). Paula Wiseman.
Jerdine Nolen tells the life story of Toni Morrison (1931-2019), the first African American woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature (in 1993), who was born Chloe Ardelia Wofford and took the nickname Toni when she was a student at Howard University. While working as an editor in New York, she began writing stories “about her people, Black people.” Her first novel, The Bluest Eye, was published in 1970. Toni Morrison’s storytelling power is reflected in her many novels for adults and books for children (written with her son, Slade Morrison). James E. Ransome incorporates portraits of Morrison as she aged in his expressive watercolor-and-collage illustrations. Back matter includes an author’s note and an extensive “Learn More About Toni Morrison” section (her books, quotes, films and videos, articles of interest, and a timeline of selected achievements and information).
—CA

The Poem Forest: Poet W. S. Merwin and the Palm Tree Forest He Grew from Scratch. Carrie Fountain Illus. by Chris Turnham. (2022). Candlewick.
Carrie Fountain’s lyrical narrative complemented by Chris Turnham’s expressive, digitally created artwork tells the life story of prolific poet W. S. Merwin (1927-2019), who won two Pulitzer Prizes and was named the Poet Laureate of the United States in 2010. William Stanley didn’t like things “straightened out.” For him, “writing poetry was like visiting a wild place.” Eventually moving to Hawaii, William Stanley found a spot in Maui that was labeled a wasteland but for him was “a straightened-out place longing to grow wild.” He planted a palm tree every day during the rainy season to heal the earth. Eventually he and his wife created a conservancy abundant with a wide variety of palm trees, including endangered species from around the world. The Merwin Conservancy became a place that “will never be straightened out.” Back matter includes an author’s note and W. S. Merwin’s poem, “Palm.”
—CBB

​The Snail. Emily Hughes. (2022). Chronicle.
“Isamu was American; / Isamu was Japanese. / Isamu was an artist. / As an artist, he wanted to give gifts to the world.” Emily Hughes pays tribute to Isamu Noguchi (1904-1998), who felt he was an outsider in both countries. He had homes in New York City and in Mure, Japan, but thought of himself as a snail, living in his shell. When his two countries were at war, he felt neither American nor Japanese and resolved to be an artist only. With an exquisite combination of words and images, Hughes tells the story of Isamu Noguchi brilliance as a sculptor. Using different materials, he created works of art from large public installations to delicate miniature pieces. She provides a richly detailed account of Noguchi’s akari, “sculptures that held light within” and ends her author’s note with the words, “When Isamu made akari, he gave us a gift of love.”
—CA

​Chelsey Bahlmann Bollinger is an assistant professor in the Early, Elementary, and Reading Department of James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Carolyn Angus is former Director of the George G. Stone Center for Children’s Books, Claremont Graduate University, in Claremont, California.

​Deborah L. Thompson
 
Art is . . . words on a page or paint strokes on a canvas, wall, side of a building, or postage stamp. Art can be subversive, controversial, or a vehicle for social justice. Above all, art is expression—a way to communicate, to make accessible the beauty of words, instrumental or vocal music, photography, paintings, or even graffiti. The picture book biographies of individuals who have enriched the world through their art reviewed in this column are suitable for sharing with readers of all ages. 

​Child of the Flower-Song People: Luz Jiménez, Daughter of the Nahua. Gloria Amescua. Illus. by Duncan Tonatiuh. (2021). Abrams.
Gloria Amescua’s expressive, lyrical text and Duncan Tonatiuh’s signature style illustrations incorporating elements of indigenous Mexican art tell the story of Julia (later Luz) Jiménez (1897-1965), known as the “soul of Mexico.” Growing up in Milpa Alta, Luz listened to the stories of elders and learned traditional skills from her family. She dreamed of becoming a teacher, but there were no schools for indigenous children—until the government decided that they needed transformative schooling in which native language and dress were forbidden. When Milpa Alta was destroyed during the Mexican Revolution, the survivors in the Jiménez family fled to Mexico City. With her strong native features, Luz became a favorite model of painters, photographers, and sculptors. While posing, she told stories and shared the skills that had been passed on to her. Eventually, she did become a teacher of the Nahua language and culture to students and scholars. Back matter includes author’s and illustrator’s notes, a photograph of Luz posing for artists, a timeline, a glossary, sources notes, and a select bibliography. 

​Fearless World Traveler: Adventures of Marianne North, Botanical Artist. Laurie Lawlor. Illus. by Becca Stadtlander. (2021). Holiday House.
Laurie Lawlor portrays Marianne North (1830-1890), who grew up in the Victorian era in which females from wealthy British families were expected to marry and provide heirs, but wanted to do something else. She read books, eavesdropped on her father’s conversations with scientists who visited their home, and taught herself botany. After the deaths of her parents, Marianne did what she had always wanted to do: travel around the world and paint native flora. She donated her extensive art collection to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Unlike her contemporary botanical artists who painted their specimens against white backgrounds, Marianne included in her paintings the environment in which she found her specimens, which enabled visitors to the Marianne North Gallery to view plants and animals in their natural habitats. Becca Stadtlander’s luminous mixed-media illustrations enhance Lawlor’s narrative. Back matter includes information on Marianne’s paintings and published writings, sources, source notes for quotes, a “Who’s Who” list of famous people Marianne met in her lifetime, and picture credits for the reproductions of eight of her botanical paintings featured on the endpapers. 

​Jump at the Sun: The True Life Tale of Unstoppable Storycatcher Zora Neal Hurston. Alicia D. Williams. Illus. by Jacqueline Alcántra. (2021). Atheneum.
This richly illustrated biography is a joyful “true life tale” of Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960) filled with the rhythmic cadence of black dialect of South Florida. During her childhood, Zora listened to the stories of old timers gathered at Joe Clarke’s general store and made up tales about characters she created. Zora’s mother encouraged her to “jump at the sun” to move beyond the strictures of her small community. When her mother died, Zora was sent to boarding school. Her stepmother, however, thought money spent on her education unnecessary. Zora left home at the age of fourteen, and after years of starts and stops, she jumped to Baltimore and attended high school (after setting her age back ten years to sixteen). Then she jumped to Howard University, where exposure to famous black writers like W.E.B. DuBois spurred her to jump to Harlem. At Barnard College, her next jump, Zora’s anthropology professor, Franz Boas, encouraged her to collect black folklore for her thesis. Collecting folk stories!? That was something Zora had been doing since her youth. After graduating, she continued to collect folklore and published her own stories. Back matter includes an author’s note, “Additional Reading” (Hurston’s books for “youngin” and “older folk), and sources. 

​King of Ragtime: The Story of Scott Joplin. Stephen Costanza. (2021). Atheneum.
Stephen Costanza celebrates the life of African American Scott Joplin (c. 1867-1917) with vibrant double-page illustrations (rendered in gouache, waxed pastels, and collage) and a rhythmic text, full of onomatopoeia and colorful figurative language. Growing up in Texas, Scott absorbed the hymns and work songs of newly freed slaves and listened to the syncopation of natural sounds—buzzing wasps, clicking cicadas, and booming thunderstorms or trains. He was surrounded by music in his home where all members of the family played instruments, and while helping his mother clean the house of a rich white family, he discovered the piano. His parents bought Scott an old piano from a salesman who gave him piano lessons in exchange for his mother’s doing his housework. Scott loved learning to play marches, arias, and classical compositions, but most of all, he wanted to compose his own songs. And he did. After playing piano in saloons along the Mississippi Valley, Scott settled in Sedalia, Missouri, gave piano lessons, played piano at the Maple Leaf Club, and studied music at a local college. After many rejections, “Maple Leaf Rag” was released by publisher John Stark in 1899, and Scott Joplin was on his way to becoming the “King of Ragtime.” Back matter includes an author’s note, recommended listening, and a bibliography. 

​A Most Clever Girl: How Jane Austen Discovered Her Voice. Jasmine A. Stirling.
Illus. by Vesper Stamper. (2021). Bloomsbury.
With an engaging narrative and expressive, soft colored illustrations, Jasmine A. Stirling and Vesper Stamper offer an accessible biography of Jane Austen (1775-1817) that focuses on the British novelist’s childhood. Jane grew up in a home where words were treasured. Stories, poetry, debates, and plays resonated throughout the Austen’s house. Jane’s father, an Anglican rector, encouraged his daughters to extend their knowledge, to write, to think, and to reflect. Stirling reveals how Jane’s observations and life experiences allowed her to create the memorable characters who found their way into her beloved novels, which led to the recognition of her literary genius. When her father died, however, Jane’s words ceased. Overcoming grief and financial struggles, Jane eventually recovered her voice, and she wrote and wrote until her death at the age of forty-two. Back matter includes sources of quotations, more on Jane Austen and her writing, author’s and illustrator’s notes, a list of Austen’s novels, resources for young readers, and a selected bibliography. 

​The People’s Painter: How Ben Shahn Fought for Justice with Art. Cynthia Levinson. Illus. by Evan Turk. (2021). Abrams.
Evan Turk’s bold, textured mixed-media illustrations complement Cynthia Levinson’s compelling narrative to make a powerful statement about art’s dominion over social injustice in this beautifully crafted biography of artist Ben Shahn (1898-1969). Young Ben drew everything he saw in his Lithuanian village and witnessed social injustice. His father was banished to Siberia by Czar Nicolas II for advocating for workers’ rights. After he escaped and made his way to America, he sent for his family. Ben found life as a Jewish immigrant harsh, but he kept drawing. Hard times prevented him from completing school, and at the age of fourteen, he was apprenticed to a lithographer. While going to art school at night, Ben clashed with a teacher who disagreed with his telling of real-life stories with his art. During the Great Depression, his use of a camera to portray the abject poverty of everyday Americans was noticed by government officials who thought him disloyal. But even a visit from the FBI did not turn Ben Shahn from using art to fight for social justice. Back matter includes an author’s note, an illustrator’s note, a timeline, a selected bibliography, a list of personal interviews, site visits, websites, and source notes. 

​Pigskins to Paintbrushes: The Story of Football Playing Artist Ernie Barnes. Don Tate. (2021). Abrams.
Author-illustrator Don Tate chronicles the life of professional football player and artist Ernest (Ernie) Barnes (1938-2009). Growing up in “the Bottoms,” a poor African American neighborhood of Durham, North Carolina, sports didn’t come easy for Ernest, but he was good at one thing—art. Ernest always carried a sketch book that he filled with drawings of people and anything that interested him, and was encouraged by his mother, who recognized his talent. Art was his life, but with the help of his high school weightlifting coach, Ernest trained and became a star athlete. Awarded a scholarship to all-black North Carolina College, he studied art while playing football, and then continued drawing while playing professional football for five years. After a career-ending injury took him out of the game, he became the official artist of the New York Jets and went on to be recognized for his paintings celebrating African American life. Back matter includes an afterword, author’s note, images of Barnes’ football cards, source notes, and a bibliography of articles, books, videos, and websites. 

Sister Corita’s Words and Shapes. Jeanette Winter. (2021). Beach Lane.
Jeanette Winter tells the life story of Sister Mary Corita with a simple text and illustrations that pay homage to her bold, colorful artwork. When Frances Elizabeth Kent (1918-1986), who grew up in Hollywood and went to the nuns’ school, entered the Immaculate Heart of Mary Convent, she became “a nun, and a teacher, and an artist—all at the same time.” She taught her students to view letters, words, and shapes in a different way. She made colorful silk-screen prints of details of big things in the world. Sister Corita’s organization of the nuns and students in a joyful parade to celebrate St. Mary’s Day at the convent led to a clash with the Archbishop of Los Angeles, who was displeased with Sister Corita’s modern ideas. Sister Corita left the convent and moved to Boston. Now she was just Corita. No longer a nun but already famous for her colorful, exuberiant artwork, she continued to use art to spread messages of happiness, love, faith, peace, and hope. Back matter includes Sister Corita’s ten rules for students, more about her life, and a selected bibliography.

​Unbound: The Life + Art of Judith Scott. Joyce Scott (with Brie Spangler). Illus. by
Melissa Sweet. (2021). Alfred A. Knopf.
Joyce Scott invites readers into the world of her twin sister, renown fiber artist Judith Scott (1943-2005). In their early years, Judith, born with Down Syndrome, and Joyce share a connection that strengthened each twin, but when Joyce begins kindergarten, Judith is institutionalized in a place that is dark and dreary in contrast to the bright, colorful world that she and Joyce had been sharing. (Melissa Sweet expresses the stages of Judith’s life visually with varying light and dark palettes.) Decades go by, and Joyce brings Judith home to live with her and enrolls her in the Creative Growth Art Center in Oakland, California. Judith does not participate in any of the activities for adults with disabilities until one day she joins a class in which a teacher had placed an array of natural materials on a table. Judith picks up twigs and weaves them together with colorful yarns and threads. Thus, Judith begins her career as a fabric artist who created fiber sculptures that have been exhibited in museums around the world. Back matter includes notes on Judith’s life and art, photos, information on Down Syndrome, a timeline, author’s and illustrator’s notes, sources, and resources on Down Syndrome.