Yoko Ono: Collector of Skies

by Nell Beram, Carolyn Boriss-Krimsky

This lyrical biography explores the life and art of Yoko Ono, from her childhood haiku to her avant-garde visual art and experimental music. An outcast throughout most of her life, and misunderstood by every group she was supposed to belong to, Yoko always followed her own unique vision to create art that was ahead of its time and would later be celebrated. Her focus remained on being an artist, even when the rest of world saw her only as the wife of John Lennon.
Yoko Ono’s moving story will inspire any young adult who has ever felt like an outsider, or who is developing or questioning ideas about being an artist, to follow their dreams and find beauty in all that surrounds them.

Praise for Yoko Collector of Skies
STARRED REVIEW
"Clean text space, delicate but legible font, and scads of photographic portraiture and art piece reproductions of excellent clarity contribute to an overall book design worthy of its subject."
― Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books , starred review

"A detailed portrait of a complex woman who for several reasons has a significant place in our cultural history. Even rabid fans of Lennon or the 1960s will find new information and angles in this searching study."
― Kirkus Reviews

"This beautifully produced, comprehensive, and highly sympathetic biography of the artist covers her entire life, reporting her influences and her accomplishments, and bringing her out from behind the shadow of her famous husband."
― School Library Journal

"This is handsomely designed and generously illustrated; it is also well researched and filled with intriguing details. There’s not a lot for young people about Ono. They will find this a good starting place."
― Booklist

Award
2014 Amelia Bloomer Project List
 

Genres: Biography, Music, Nonfiction, Art, Poetry, History, Womens

184 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

We usually think of Yoko Ono mainly as the wife of John Lennon- and that she is blamed for the breakup of the Beatles. What is wonderful about this book is that we see Yoko ( born on February 18, 1933 in Tokyo) as a person beyond her relationship with John. We see her as a young girl interested in art who became one of the few women to enter the avantgarde art world. A most valuable part of the book is that it includes reproductions of her artwork. Of course, it was very interesting to read about the meeting of John and Yoko and how their relationship developed leading to marriage on March 20, 1969 (in Gibraltar of all places). The authors insist that Yoko was NOT the cause of the breakup of "the Fab Four." To quote John- "I was starting to drift from the Beatles before Yoko. What I did...in my own cowardly way was use Yoko....It was like now I have the strength to leave because I know there is another side to life." We see the ups and downs in the life of the unconventional couple leading to that tragic day of December 8, 1980. This book was published in 2013 and so, sadly, it takes Yoko through the years following John's death almost up to the present day (I write this on December 31, 2017). Happily, she was able to build a strong loving relationship with her (and John's) son Sean ( Sean had always been closer to his father). Including wonderful photos from Yoko's life, this book gives us the portrait of a much misunderstood ground-breaking artist who always remained true to herself and her vision.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yoko Ono, perhaps most famous for her relationship with Beatle John Lennon, was also an artist and musician in her own right. As is often the case with celebrities, fans of her husband's band made assumptions about her and blamed her for the break-up of the Beatles and regarded her as a hanger-on, basking in the glow from her husband's fame. The truth is much more complicated and more intriguing than that. The child of wealthy parents, Yoko led a privileged life in Japan and went to the best schools in the country. But she also experienced the deprivation and fears brought on by WWII. As her family moved from one country (Japan) to another (the United States) and back again, she often felt as though she didn't fit anywhere. Her own creative spirit prompted her to experiment with art and music in ways that challenged how art was being defined and experienced. By the time readers have reached the last page of this biography, filled with photos of its subject and some of her artwork, most will have a new appreciation for this determined woman who continues to push boundaries. While the text is filled with insight about Yoko's inspirations and acknowledges some of her flaws, I finished it wanting to know even more about her. I particularly appreciated the authors' acknowledgement of the sexism, racism, and ageism that artists such as Yoko continue to face. There is little doubt that the book needs to be savored while listening to some of the music she has created over the years.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poor Yoko - blamed for the breakup of the Beatles even though who cares if she did? There is room here for some good discussion of fandom - what do artists owe their fans vs. their own life. We tend to forget they are PEOPLE just like us!

Yoko's art is given center stage, as it should be, and is very compelling.

I have always liked Yoko, but did not know she was married twice before with children.

Her life itself is fascinating, regardless of whether teenagers know her before reading or not.

My only quibble - it stops too early. Recently, Yoko has had a well-reviewed remix album of her greatest hits, and done some exhibits of John's artwork. Not so recently that the last several years could not have made a mention in this book.

[GraceAnne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is well-put-together -- just as a collection of photographs it is fantastic -- and outlines Yoko's complex and multifaceted life and art. It is alas rather awkwardly written and tends to the simplistic in historical description.
It is not easy to grasp the point of Yoko's art, but she was a great mover in the realm of conceptual art, and she continues to practice her art now as she moves into her 80s.
The text is very good at delineating her personal and artistic relationship to John Lennon, and in allowing readers to see how each influenced the other, and how emotionally alike they were.

[Jessie · Rating 4 out of 5]

An easy to read, thoughtfully written YA Yoko bio that tells her story well and thoroughly. I’m glad this exists.

[S'hi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautiful book to hold. The image of Yoko’s sleeping face on the front cover with a patchwork of coloured rectangles across it, the size and format of substantial content (yes I mean that word in its multiple meanings), and the feel of the pages slipping through your fingers like the tags indicated as existing just beyond their borders… all of it is beautiful.

You want to enter. Have it enter you.

I have long admired Yoko Ono.
I feel I know so little about her, but that is the way to know her – by all the little, and their accumulating effect over time and space. They allow so much room for your own breath between meetings. No longing, but no imposition either. Plenty of space to be yourself, as she is. Permission.

At one stage I lived in a house which had previously been owned by a number of single women, some merely identified as “widow” on the Title Deed. And so as I named the rooms in the house, Tradition, Transition and so on, I decided the passageway from the front door, that everyone would experience as an introduction to the living space, would be called Widow’s Hall. I envisioned framing the loving faces of remarkable women to line that hall in homage to their great spirits being a beacon to me. Unfortunately I got distracted by living and only ever had images of a few of the women I had intended to be there. Yoko was one of them. (Unlike most neighbours yelling to have the music next door turned down, I famously met my next door neighbour by yelling for him to turn up John Lennon’s Beautiful Boy.)

There are many other subtle ways in which I feel my life touched by Yoko’s presence and awareness. I have never been the kind of fan that reads all the magazines and buys every record. But behind all the gossip, good and bad, I have always felt how interesting it would be to spend some time in her company sharing a slice of cloud, that magic between sun and rain. There is something elementally universal in the simplicity she brings to the most complex of issues. It is the courage of great imagination well expressed.

For such a shy person she has taught us all so much about the importance of intimacy.

I thank her for it. And I thank her biographers for this fine volume of celebration.
Beautiful.

[Samuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's hard for me to think of another major artist as divisive as Yoko Ono. When you combine the reactions to her work in visual and performance art, writing, and music, as well as her oft-maligned presence in later sessions by the Beatles, even Damien Hirst, Andy Warhol, and Marcel Duchamp start to look uncontroversial.

But make no mistake, Ono is a major artist. Yoko Ono: Collector of Skies makes this case eloquently, discussing her role as a progenitor of conceptual art, a pioneering feminist, and a genuinely forward-thinking musician. (Laugh at that last one if you want, but did you realize that Ono has had 10 singles hit #1 on the US Dance charts?) The book takes a straight chronological approach, which is probably a good choice, as it lets the reader follow Ono's progression from lonely child, to art-world enfant terrible, to That Lady Who Must Have Broken Up The Beatles, and on to her place now as a highly respected artistic elder stateswoman. It's not shy about detailing some of the more unpleasant moments in Ono's life either; in that respect, it reminds me a bit of Candace Fleming's refreshingly honest Amelia Lost.

The prose is clean and clear, and makes good use of liberal quotations from Ono's own work. Conceptual art isn't necessarily easy for a child reader to grasp, but Nell Beram and Carolyn Boriss-Krimsky do an excellent job of integrating needed definitions and background into the body of the text without drawing undue attention to them, or resorting to distracting sidebars. Readers who don't know Ono's work at all -- or who know it only as a punchline -- will walk away from Collector of Skies with a profound understanding and appreciation for her art.

A longer version of this review appeared on For Those About To Mock at abouttomock.blogspot.com

[Lindsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

A perfectly serviceable biography of Yoko Ono, though not as riveting as it could have been. I was already familiar with some of her work, mostly due to my obsession with The Beatles, and have admired her in her own right for some time now, but I particularly liked the chapters on her personal and professional life before John entered the picture. I was surprised that the book totally omitted all discussion of drug use and downplayed how much her many miscarriages seemed to affect her psyche over the years...this could be because this is written as YA non-fiction, but on the same token, if it can discuss the scene where Lennon audibly had sex in another room with another woman while attending a party with Yoko, it can delve into these other difficult topics as well. This biography certainly seems to be written with a bias, which is a shame. I admire Yoko and her vision, but I appreciate her human side, too. Though the book was frank about her struggles with the notion of motherhood (loved that!), I can understand the attempt to not demonize a woman that has faced her fair share of that over the decades.

TL;DR--good book for introducing Ono's life and work, but just as complicated as the woman herself.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

When you are done reading Elizabeth Partridge's Lennon bio, All I Want is the Truth, this is your next stop.

The focus is more on Ono's art than her life. Now that I've brought up All I Want is the Truth, I will say that Partridge's depiction of Lennon is more nuanced than Beram's depiction of Ono. However, Beram gets the point across that Ono was a true individual, an artist in her own right, and in a lot of ways a victim of being a bold female "foreigner" in a time where that was a dangerous thing to be.

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perhaps a bit overly sympathetic toward the subject, this biography of Ono is nonetheless quite interesting, revealing, and insightful about her life, personality, activism, and many accomplishments as a multi-faceted artist.

[trina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I ADORE Yoko Ono and loved the pictures in this book, but the writing style felt flat and juvenile. There aren't many books on her though, so I took what I could get lol.

[Caeser Pink · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very Yoko-friendly book. It doesn't really deal with all the criticisms against her. But I read it to learn about her work, so that was fine with me. It's a beautifully laid-out book. It looks more like an art book with lots of photos and large spacious typesetting.

Some of the surprises in the book include that Yoko was a trained pianist and opera singer. She was born into a wealthy family, but during the war she and her mother were reduced to wandering through the countryside begging for food. Often trading expensive items such a jewelry for a cup of rice. Later, one of Emperor Hirohito's sons was in love with her, and she was expected to marry someone important in Japanese Society. A path that she rejected.

The book is generally an enjoyable read. If I have any complaint, it is that it could have been a bit more in-depth. It covers the early part of her career a little more closely than the later years. But overall it provides a good overall study at her work, and actually attempts to discuss the work in a meaningful way.

[Great Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yoko Ono became very famous because of her marriage to John Lennon but there is so much more to her life than their relationship. This story follows the fascinating life of Yoko: read about her childhood days spent in Japan during World War II, her budding career as an artist and her experiences as a musician.

Reviewer #4

[Alyssa (The Shady Glade)]

I'm marking this a "did not finish". Nothing particularly wrong with the book, but I've read enough to know evaulate it for the CYBILS shortlist as of right now. If needed, I will come back to it later.

[Mokamonkey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would have given it more stars if this book didn't feel overly biased in favor of the subject.

[Sarah Sammis · Rating 2 out of 5]

http://www.pussreboots.pair.com/blog/...

[Debbie Hoskins · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was working on the book, Q&A, and it said that last year I read Yoko Ono: Collector of Skies. I forgot to put the book on this list, but the book is very memorable. I love the cover. It's so pretty and so is Yoko in the pic.
It made me want to read the book. The book is readable, well illustrated, with photographs and other visual material. I'm not that interested in Yoko, so I would not have wanted to read more material about her. It was interesting and made me understand her as an artist. She has very much stayed true to her artistic vision. She has also continued to develop creatively, which I admire. Some famous musicians of her era appear to have stayed creatively stuck in the early 70's.

[Issha Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

An absolutely fascinating account on one of my favourite artists.

I do feel like this biography reads like a tabloid at times; it gets extremely emotional and at times a bit too hyperbolic. Perhaps I am used to biographies that read more like academic papers, but this does not change the fact that the writing and pacing of this book leaves SO MUCH to be desired.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Netgalley ARC.

This is a suitable biography for middle school kids. The pictures are beautiful (though they didn't come across very well on my small device). I'm not a Yoko Ono fan, so I learned a lot.

[Alma · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this biography of Yoko Ono’s life, released on the eve of her 80th birthday, authors Beram & Boriss-Krimsky strive to show her as an unusual and unique artist misunderstood by her own generation, not fully accepted by her peers, yet finally accepted by all later in life.

Read the rest of the review on my blog: http://shouldireaditornot.wordpress.c...

[Betty Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yoko Ono: Collector of Skies by Nell Beram and Carolyn Boriss-Krimsky is a must read! This moving story of Yoko's life is an affirmation of creativity that transcends time and place. Her art reminds us that we are all one and that imagination has the power to heal-- and bring peace, love and joy.

[Christina Getrost · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting book about a complex person. Has photos on every page, and clear text. I learned alot about Yoko One that I'd not known. Not sure of the appeal to today's kids unless they're already Beatles fans, but could be interesting to a budding artist. For 8th grade and up, some frank topics.

[Jill Adams · Rating 2 out of 5]

The beginning was interesting--it focused on her upbringing. I skimmed the rest of the text, however. The writing seemed dead to me, which is interesting b/c it contrasted with the vibrancy of her character. I mainly just looked at the pictures towards the end.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really wanted to learn more about Yoko Ono's early life - before she met John Lennon. Well written and some great photos.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy and digestible account of Yoko Ono's life and art. I didn't really know that much about her before and this was the perfect introduction which made me understand her importance in the art world.

[Esra · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an exceptional life, enjoyed reading.

[JMRL]

Find it at JMRL: http://aries.jmrl.org/record=b1288279~S9