First sentence: Benny started to draw when he was three years old. Once he started, he never stopped. At first, he made pictures of the world around him. He drew hot suns and red clay and little wood-frame houses in the middle of cotton fields that stretched as far as he could see. He drew black people at work in the fields.
Premise/plot: Draw What You See is a picture book biography of the artist Benny Andrews. The book is illustrated by Andrews' artwork. Readers thereby get the chance to see his work for themselves and to learn his story: how he came to be an artist, what was important to him, how he saw the world, etc. The book does a great job at making art relevant to life.
My thoughts: I really enjoyed reading Draw What You See. I found the book to be simple and fascinating. This picture book biography is oh-so-easy for me to recommend.
Text: 4 out of 5
Illustrations: 4 out of 5
Total: 8 out of 10
© 2015 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
1 comment:
Hi Becky!
I'm a client of Sally Apokedak's, and she told me I should stop by your page. I'm glad I did. :)
Sally is always talking about the importance of and author's "voice," and the first thing that stood out to me in your review of Benny Andrews was Benson's voice. One paragraph in--in a book about an illustrator I've never even heard of (I'm a little embarrassed to say)--and I want to read more. That's good Voice. :)
Thanks for sharing and for the recommendation!
Post a Comment