Jacob Lawrence

Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists

by Mike Venezia

A biography of the African American painter who used his art to tell stories about the lives of individual Blacks and historical events important in the lives of his people

Genres: Art, History, Biography, Picture Books

32 pages, Library Binding

First published September 1, 1999

Reviews

[Ardyth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mostly very good. From the style, I *think* it's meant for early elementary read-to-self, maybe P3 or even P2? Not quite dure tbh.

Occasional odd phrasing, as on p 4 where Toussaint L'Ouverture "managed to organize other slaves into an excellent army." Why not use the simpler, clearer and better-toned "organized" on its own? <-- rhetorical question. I know why.

I like very much the handling of artwork in the book -- lots of it, full color, good size so we can see. Many art books fail in this regard (imo).

Note: the book avoids explaining what Lawrence actually communicated with his paintings, e.g. from The Migration Series the piece titled "In the North the African American had more educational opportunities." I'm not sure many young kids will catch the irony, instead taking the words at face value... and that feels a tad shady. A parent or teacher could draw out further response, but in a read-to-self maybe not so much.

[Shelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists, Jacob Lawrence is a nice edition in this fantastic collection by Mike Venezia. These books are perfect for exposing elementary and junior high aged students to a large variety of artists and styles of art.

While I'm not a fan of Jacob Lawrence's art, I do appreciate his subject matter: African American History. During Jacob's time black history was not often taught at school. Not giving young people an opportunity to learn about their past makes it harder for them to feel pride in their culture and in turn themselves; Jacob Lawrence worked to change that.

[Teri · Rating 3 out of 5]

typically dry