Great Reading: Bookmark It!

Volume 32, Number 1, October 2004

Deborah Taylor

The World of Art

Art against the odds: From slave quilts to prison paintings. Susan Rubin. Crown, 2004. $19.95. 0-37582406-5. Grades 7-12. Rubin presents extraordinary examples of art born of rebellion, desperation or the need to have one’s voice heard, and explains why the art matters today. Famous and obscure selections demonstrate how art makes a statement beyond the canvas.

Is this forever or what? Poems and paintings from Texas. Naomi Shihab Nye, sel. Greenwillow, 2004. $19.99. 0-06-051178-8. Grades 9-12. Paintings and poems by Texas artists and writers reflect the diversity of the state’s people and landscape. Nye artfully matches images and text to provide a visual and literary experience.

Leonardo Da Vinci: Renaissance genius. Barbara O’Connor. Carolrhoda, 2003. $25.26. 0-87614-467-9. Grades 7-12. O’Connor illustrates how art and science were linked for Da Vinci from his earliest years, giving readers a more complete understanding of this master.

Romare Bearden: Collage of memories. Jan Greenberg. Harry N. Abrams, 2003. $17.95. 0-81094589-4. Grades 7-12. Selections of the artist’s own work make up an accessible and attractive pictorial biography. Bearden’s work is placed in the context of his lifelong attempts to portray and celebrate African American lives and communities.

Wake up our souls: A celebration of Black American artists. Tonya Bolden, ed. Harry N. Abrams, 2004. $24.94. 0-8109-4527-4. Grades 7-12. By highlighting influential and important Black American artists of the 20 th century, Bolden describes a vibrant chapter in the history of American art and African American culture. The rich selection of works reflects a wide range in subject matter and media.

Deborah Taylor: Coordinator, School and Student Services, Enoch Pratt Free Library, Baltimore, MD. dtaylor@epfl.net