Full Product Details
Author: Jeanne Walker Harvey ,
Loveis Wise
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Inc
Imprint: HarperCollins
Dimensions:
Width: 22.70cm
, Height: 1.20cm
, Length: 28.90cm
Weight: 0.397kg
ISBN: 9780063021891
ISBN 10: 0063021897
Pages: 40
Publication Date: 22 February 2022
Recommended Age: From 4 years
Audience:
Children/juvenile
,
Children / Juvenile
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: To order
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.
Reviews
The text achieves a fine balance of evocative lyricism and straightforward exposition. Wise's vibrant, eye-catching illustrations contain echoes of Thomas' signature abstract style, with its colorful mosaic-like patterns and tessellated brush strokes. Uplifting with hope and ablaze with joyous colors!--Kirkus Reviews
That Alma did not live to see the momentous day--when the first Black president and First Lady chose Alma's painting as the first artwork by a Black woman to be displayed in the White House closes her story with a single bittersweet episode in a tour de force career. Wise's digital art pops with color and features slightly abstracted figures, mirroring but never mimicking Thomas' visual explosion of hues.--Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books This superb picture-book biography profiles Alma Thomas (1891-1978), the first Black woman to have art displayed in the White House's permanent collection. Harvey's (Maya Lin, rev. 7/17) poetic text is imagistic and deftly paced; Wise's (The People Remember, rev. 11/21) digital artwork is boldly, fittingly colorful.--Horn Book (starred review) In clear language and straightforward presentation, the author (Maya Lin) focuses on Thomas's family's intellectual ambitions and support of her aspirations, her love of nature and education, and her determination and persistence in the face of societal obstacles. Wise celebrates Thomas's work with saturated, page-filling, vibrant color; the rich, flat, atmospheric compositions fit Thomas's tessellated style and high-key colors. An inspiring introduction for artists and appreciators, as individuals or shared in groups.--School Library Journal (starred review) This charming biography's title describes not only Alma Thomas' signature paintings but the book's radiant artwork, which emphasizes how the colors of the natural world inspired her unusual, iconic works. Neatly encapsulating a long life that saw social and personal upheaval, as well as gorgeously showcasing the art produced along the way and the natural world that inspired it, this title is a must for art and biography shelves.--Booklist (starred review) The text achieves a fine balance of evocative lyricism and straightforward exposition. Wise's vibrant, eye-catching illustrations contain echoes of Thomas' signature abstract style, with its colorful mosaic-like patterns and tessellated brush strokes. Uplifting with hope and ablaze with joyous colors!--Kirkus Reviews
Author Information
Jeanne Walker Harvey has been a longtime docent at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Just like Alma Thomas, Jeanne believes that art brings us joy. Her other picture books include Maya Lin: Artist-Architect of Light and Lines and My Hands Sing the Blues: Romare Bearden's Childhood Journey. Jeanne studied literature and psychology at Stanford University. She lives in Northern California. Visit her online at www.jeanneharvey.com. Loveis Wise is a nonbinary illustrator and designer from Washington, DC, now based in Los Angeles. They have collaborated and imagined with clients such as the New Yorker, the New York Times, HarperCollins, Google, Disney Hyperion, and Adobe, to name a few. Their work often speaks to themes of joy, mindfulness, and liberation.
