artists

The Puffin Keeper

Sophie Rosen , , , ,

Morpurgo, Michael. The Puffin Keeper. Toronto: Puffin Canada, 2020.
After a shipwreck at sea, Allen and his mother are rescued by a lighthouse keeper who bravely rows out to rescue the passengers. Years pass. But Allen never forgets Benjamin Postlethwaite, the man who saved him from drowning. When he grows old enough, he goes back to visit and stays for months, painting pictures and rescuing puffins until he is called up to serve in World War II. After the war, he returns and makes his home on the islands with his wife and children. 
This 91-page novel by a master storyteller – written from the first person point of view – flows so smoothly and quietly it feels like it must be a true story. Highly recommended for adults who appreciate outstanding writing and for children 9 to 11 years old.

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To See Clearly

Sophie Rosen

Turk, Evan. To See Clearly: A Portrait of David Hockney. New York : Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2023.
David loved to draw: on newspapers, on chore lists, on floors, on any space he could find until his mother got him a chalkboard to save the wallpaper in the house. The more David drew, the more he noticed. And the more he noticed, the more he drew. Growing up in a Britain during World War II, life was often difficult but David found joy in creating works of art. After graduating from the Royal College of Arts in London, he moved to Hollywood, a place that felt brighter and cleaner and more exciting than life in England. It was also more accepting of gay people, and David Hockney became one of the first artists to depict gay people in paintings. As he became older and after numerous friends died from AIDS, he moved back to Britain. But he kept painting pictures, finding ways to to create art using new technologies, even his iPhone, and designing a stained-glass window for Westminster Abbey. David Hockney kept finding more and more beauty around him all his life. This picture book biography – illustrated in colored pencil, gouache and crayon – is recommended for art lovers of all ages. 

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Picture books for artists

Woodpecker Girl

Sophie Rosen , , ,

Liu, Chingyen and I-Tsun Chiang. Woodpecker Girl. New York: Reycraft Books, 2020.
How do you express yourself when you can neither speak nor write? How do you explore the world when you’re wheel-chair bound? How do you live with optimism and joy? A little girl born with cerebral palsy learns to paint using a brush attached to a headband. She learns to make friends and discovers that despite obstacles, she can bring happiness to this world. Based on the life of artist Yipei Huang and illustrated by Heidi Doll, this inspiring picture book includes eleven paintings by Huang and a note from her mother. Highly recommended for all readers 5 years old and up.

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A Tulip in Winter

Sophie Rosen , , ,

Stinson, Kathy. A Tulip in Winter: A Story About Folk Artist Maud Lewis. Vancouver: Greystone Kids/Greystone Books, 2023.
Sunshine in darkness. Joy in the midst of hardship. The story of the Canadian artist from Nova Scotia has been told many times but never more lyrically than in this engaging picture book. Maud Lewis, born in 1903, developed debilitating rheumatoid arthritis as a child. Despite pain and poverty, she spent her life painting cheerful pictures on furniture, walls, windows, scraps of wood and cardboard, and everything else around her. She died in 1970, having never sold any of her work for more than ten dollars. Today, her paintings sell for tens of thousands of dollars. This beautifully designed picture book – with a cheerful font and full-page illustrations by Lauren Soloy – is highly recommended for anyone who enjoys biographies and appreciates excellent writing.

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Mr. McCloskey’s Marvelous Mallards

Sophie Rosen , , ,

Smith, Emma Bland. Mr. McCloskey’s Marvelous Mallards: The Making of Make Way for Ducklings.  New York: Calkins Creek, an imprint of Astra Books for Young Readers, 2022.
How do you  become a great writer? How do you become a great artist? By practising, of course. Practising and practising. Over and over and over. When Robert McCloskey, the famed author and illustrator, decided to create a picture book about a family of ducks, he started drawing sketches. But they weren’t very good. He did some research on ducks and tried again, but his sketches still weren’t very good. So he went out and bought a box of ducklings and took them home to live in his studio. You’d think living with ducklings, messy squawking ducklings, would help him know how to create great illustrations. But it wasn’t enough. So he went out and brought home a box of adult ducks. After Mr. McCloskey had practised and practised some more and the ducks really needed to get back outside where they belonged, he was finally satisfied with his pictures. It had taken him six years of researching and writing and drawing to finish his story. But it was worth it. In 1942, Make Way for Ducklings won the Caldecott Award for the most distinguished American children’s picture book! This biography by Smith, illustrated with gouache and coloured pencil drawings by Becca Stadtlander and appended by extensive background information, is highly recommended for students 6 to 10 years old and for anyone of any age who needs encouragement to not give up. Keep practising!

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Capturing Joy

Sophie Rosen ,

Bogart, Jo Ellen. Capturing Joy: The Story of Maud Lewis. Toronto: Tundra Books; Plattsburgh, N.Y.: Tundra Books of Northern New York, 2002.
Scenes of everyday life by a self-trained artist: horses pulling sleighs, cows grazing in fields, children walking to school, fishing boats on the sea. Maud Lewis – one of Canada’s greatest folk artists – didn’t follow all the rules regarding proportion and perspective. She didn’t include shadows in her scenes of summer. She sometimes painted impossible things, such as flowers on evergreen trees or snowy valleys surrounded by green hills. But all the time, her paintings were full of joy, even though her own life was full of hardship. This biography – illustrated by Mark Lang – isn’t the most well-designed picture book: the font is too small and serious; and the layout doesn’t reflect the happiness of the full-page colourful paintings. But the text is full of information and so the book would be useful as a read-aloud for children eight years old and up. It would be especially valuable as an introduction to a lesson on folk art or a unit on facing adversity with courage.

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A Boy Named Isamu

Sophie Rosen , , ,

Yang, James. A Boy Named Isamu. New York, New York: Viking, 2021.
Do you enjoy observing the world around you? Do you like wondering about what you see? Are you ever alone but not lonely because you are busy thinking? Isamu is a boy whose imagination can fill an entire day in this elegant picture book inspired by the life of the artist Isamu Noguchi. Photographs and an author’s note at the end tell more about the Japanese American sculptor and landscape designer born in 1904. Recommended for children who are full of their own questions about the world.

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