My Name Is Georgia: A Portrait by Jeanette Winter

by Jeanette Winter

From the time she was just a young girl, Georgia O'Keeffe viewed the world in her own way. While other girls played with toys and braided their hair, Georgia practiced her drawing and let her hair fly free. As an adult, Georgia followed her love of art from the steel canyons of New York City to the vast plains of New Mexico. There she painted all day, and slept beneath the stars at night. Throughout her life Georgia O'Keeffe followed her dreams--and so found her way to become a great American artist.

Genres: Art, Picture Books, Biography, Nonfiction, Childrens, History, Art History

48 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Mir · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a sample, gentle introduction to the life and art of Georgia O'Keefe. I liked it but feel it might be a bit dull for little kids unless they are already pretty interested in art. The illustrations are good but do not have the same feel as O'Keefe's work, which is I assume what Winter was trying for. I did like the way they break the implicit frame of the square. I was a bit puzzled by the omnipresent brown striping on O'Keefe's face.

One thing I didn't like was the emphasis on O'Keefe's difference, especially as contrast with her sisters, who are presented as all the same, conformist little girls who care only about their hair and clothes. Winter seems overly influenced by the woman-defying-convention trope; in fact O'Keefe's mother encouraged all her children to study art, and her sisters had careers of their own. Georgia's sisters were the ones who encouraged her to return to art school. I'm sorry that the author didn't think a close, supportive family was interesting.

[Saleh MoonWalker · Rating 3 out of 5]

داستان به صورت اتوبیوگرافی نوشته شده اما بعضی قسمتها به سوم شخص هم تبدیل میشه. پرسپکتیو مناسبی از زندگی این هنرمند به ما میده. زندگی شخصیش رو توضیح میده، نشون میده چه چیزی الهام بخشش بوده، باعث شده خلاقیتش به اوج برسه و باعث شده هنرش ارتقاء پیدا کنه. روایتش کوتاهه و برای کودکان نوشته شده، اما به نظرم برای بزرگسالان هم مناسبه.

[Lisa Vegan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a lovely introduction to Georgia O’Keeffe’s art but, even though I liked the illustrations, I’d actually rather have had her actual paintings be the illustrations. Winter seemed to try to mimic O’Keeffe’s style, and sort of got it, but I found the differences distracting. I guess for readers who haven’t seen O’Keeffe’s actual art works, these illustrations could work okay.

This did make me (and not for the first time) want to read about O’Keeffe’s life. Was she really that much of an introvert? That unconventional?

But, while I didn’t find this telling of the artist’s life story boring, I think some children will find it boring, or at least not all that interesting. O’Keeffe is made to seem so different. Maybe kids who are artistic and feel very different from their peers might get some solace from it. I do like how it was shown how O’Keeffe went where she wanted to go, and painted what she wanted to paint, and brought her inspiration to fruition.

[Christy · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the time she was just a young girl, Georgia O'Keeffe viewed the world in her own way. While other girls played with toys and braided their hair, Georgia practiced her drawing and let her hair fly free. As an adult, Georgia followed her love of art from the steel canyons of New York City to the vast plains of New Mexico. There she painted all day, and slept beneath the stars at night. Throughout her life Georgia O'Keeffe followed her dreams--and so found her way to become a great American artist.

[Terresa Wellborn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Georgia O'Keeffe lived to be ninety-eight years old. This picture book illustrates her life, simply and concisely, from her childhood, to art school, to NYC, to New Mexico.

Quotes:

I went to the Texas plains,
the Wild West of my childhood books.
...you have never seen SKY --
it is wonderful.

I looked to the sky.
The distance has always been calling me.

Themes: Georgia O'Keeffe, art, biographies, history
Ages: preK-3rd grade+ (all ages)
Pub year: 1998

[Debra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amazing tenacity to continue to pursue her creativity in a time when women were still second class citizens and strong (head strong) women were to be controlled. I have always been amazed at her paintings. That said I would use this book as an accompanying source while showing the kids lots and lots of her art.

[Kaitlyn Elmerick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Genre: Biography
Grade level: Lower/Intermediate/Upper Elementary
This book about an artist shows her life and all her travels. It shows her techniques and some of her art. It is an easy read that students could read, or could be read to.

[Kae · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the "My Name Is...." series by Jeanette and Jonah Winter. Both author and illustrator do a wonderful job of styling each book to match the works of its subject. For example, this book about Georgia O'Keeffe begins with open bucolic scenes and few words per page as her formative years in Wisconsin are discussed. As O'Keeffe progresses through her life and artwork, so do the colors and images. It's brilliant!

I'd recommend this book for advanced beginners. The sentence structure is simple but some of the vocab is higher level.

[Jane G Meyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice picture book about Georgia O'Keeffe for a very young child.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great for bringing a young reader into the world of Georgia O'Keefe, with sparing first-person text and child-friendly illustrations in the style of the artist. Good book for the elementary crowd.

[Kandise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very gentle.

[Mrs. Ruigrok · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful book that tells about Georgia O'Keeffe. What she painted, where she painted, why she painted. Great information for young readers.

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Told from Georgia's perspective. I like that it mentions how she drew her flowers and other items BIG.

[Ian McHugh · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely introduction to the life and work of Georgia O’Keeffe. Perfect for a little girl mesmerized by her paintings on a visit to Santa Fe.

[Ammie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really simple text, but correct bio info. I wanted to love it, but I doubt we'd ever read it again.

[Gracie Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

because she wanted to people to see the way she did

[Adrianne Rosal · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a real good story. Our students even did some paintings that reflected this painter.

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

very cute and encourages letting others know how you see the world, which is always a gift

[Stella Schaefer-Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very sweet book. It’s for sure giving whimsical tortured artist.

[Jennie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wonderful children’s book about GO

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this picture book biography the first person I is used making it confusing as Georgia O’Keefe did not write this title. Having read two other biographies illustrated by Jeanette Winter she has illustrated this in her block illustrations to represent paintings with somewhat of an O’Keefe style. However, the framed illustrations are confined and O’Keefe’s style was anything but confined and dull in colors as these illustrations are.
I did learn a little about her early life in Wisconsin and could connect that with her later subject matter and residence in New Mexico.
Overall there probably are better titles for children about Georgia O’Keefe.

[Lizeth Velazquez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Winter, Jeanette (Author & Illustrator). My Name is Georgia: A Portrait (1998). Jeanette Winters illustrated the life of Georgia O'Keefe and wrote about her life by writing as if Georgia herself were narrating and explaining about her own life. What comes though is how much of an individual Georgia was even compared to her other four sisters. Georgia did not dress and comb her hair like her sisters and stood out. Georgia had a way to do things in her unique way and did not partake in the same activities growing up in a farm in Wisconsin. By age twelve, Georgia emphatically knows that she wants to be an artist and with her mother's support Georgia attends art colleges and paves her own path into becoming a major American female artist a rare recognition since mostly men were given such recognition at the time. What you get from this biography is how Georgia wanted to express her own ideas of how she observed nature most of all, as she mainly painted flowers but later skulls or other items out in the desert of New Mexico, her favorite place. I recommend this book to showcase the individual traits of Georgia and how she followed her desire to become an artist. I think the illustrations are good discussions that demonstrate how she worked and practiced without fail to do what she most enjoyed. Target Audience: K-3 (Children's Biography).

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the story of Georgia O’Keefe. The author introduces the reader to the life of this amazing artist. Starting from when she was a little girl up until the day she passes, the reader hears the story from Georgia. “When I was twelve years old, I knew what I wanted—to be an artist.” When I was small, I always played alone. I did things others did not. I let my hair fly free when my sisters wore braids. I copied pictures from the art teacher’s cabinet ever Saturday. When I was at home, I drew what I saw. When I was at school in Chicago I drew about the statues in the museum. At school in New York, I drew a still-life painting a day. But when I was finished with school, I went out on my own to discover the world. I started in the Plains of Texas. It was a wonderful sky!I drew the sunset and sky day and night. Then I went to New York and painted gardens and flowers. Something else was calling me. I packed up and went to New Mexico. I painted bones, hills, and the sky. I drove my Model A across the desert and back. I painted in my studio on wheels. Georgia painted and painted until she died. Georgia lived to be 98. Her paintings are all over in museums for people to see her creations of skies, flowers, and cities the way she saw them.

[Alexandra Brown]

My Name Is Georgia is a part of my text set titled, "Creative Thinking: If You Can Think It, You Can Do It, And Change The World Too!". I chose this biography of Georgia O'Keefe for two specific reasons, one because Georgia O'Keefe is an artist and many children associate creativity with creating some type of art, I thought this would be a good place to start in a unit on creative thinkers and how they can change the landscape in which we live. Second, the life of Georgia O'Keefe highlights the differences she often finds between her and her surroundings, all of which were reflected in her paintings. Georgia O'Keefe's creative thinking allowed for new artists to express their feelings through painting while Georgia may have still been grappling with her own. My Name is Georgia is a perfect fit for the biography portion of my text set because it introduces students to not only a traditional creative person, but an example of how a creative thinker can change the way other creative people think and appreciate their craft.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

A picture book biography of the artist Georgia O'Keeffe. Narrated in first person, this is a short overview that beautifully captures O'Keeffe's individuality and creative journey. The evocative illustrations combined with the quotations makes this book an insightful introduction for younger readers.

[Erik This Kid Reviews Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

Georgia sees the world differently. She drew things BIG so people could see how she saw things. She painted everything, statues, skies, flowers, bones, and the Earth. She loved to paint. She did it until she died at the age of 98. Now, her paintings are known all over the world, and through them, we can see what she saw.

Why I liked this book – First of all, it has wonderful, I repeat, WONDERFUL, illustrations. Second, I like that it is nonfiction and about an artist I really liked learning about. It is written in the first person of Georgia. I like that. It is unique. I like all the drawings of what she actually painted (cartoon-y versions of her paintings). That was cool. I recommend this book to kids 6+.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.4

JW has summarized the life of O'Keeffe by using a picture and a fact on each page. I think this would capture the imagination of any child interested in art. There aren't any images of O'Keeffe's actual paintings, which is too bad. (And the drawings of O'Keeffe as a child are disconcerting because the faces are of a much older person.)

2022
"I went to the New Mexico desert. ..
It was good dry for the flowers to grow."

Ouch! There are flowers in the desert! They're just different from the ones in NYC.

A formidable task -- condensing 98 years of life into 48 pages (67 brief sentences).

[Christine Turner]

From the time she was just a young girl, Georgia O'Keeffe viewed the world in her own way. While other girls played with toys and braided their hair, Georgia practiced her drawing and let her hair fly free. As an adult, Georgia followed her love of art from the steel canyons of New York City to the vast plains of New Mexico. There she painted all day, and slept beneath the stars at night. Throughout her life Georgia O'Keeffe followed her dreams, and so found her way to become a great American artist.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting perspective on the artist, Georgia O'Keeffe. It's written as if it's an autobiography, but has third person tidbits thrown in as well. It describes her inspiration and creative musings about her art as well as the evolution her art made during her lifetime. There is a short narrative on each page and the book is written for children, but our girls weren't interested in listening to it, so I read it myself. I think more adults than children would appreciate this story.

[Kay Mcgriff · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I ever move into another life where collecting art is a possibility, I would own at least one of Georgia O'Keefe's paintings. The flowers are my favorites, but I also love the desert landscapes and the bones. This picture book biography hints at the beauty and power of an O'Keefe painting while giving the broad strokes of her life and vision.