Draw What You See: The Life and Art of Benny Andrews - Hardcover

Benson, Kathleen

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0544104870 ISBN 13: 9780544104877

Publisher: Clarion Books, 2015

Synopsis

Benny Andrews loved to draw. He drew his nine brothers and sisters, and his parents. He drew the red earth of the fields where they all worked, the hot sun that beat down, and the rows and rows of crops. As Benny hauled buckets of water, he made pictures in his head. And he dreamed of a better life—something beyond the segregation, the backbreaking labor, and the limited opportunities of his world.      Benny’s dreams took him far from the rural Georgia of his childhood. He became one of the most important African American painters of the twentieth century, and he opened doors for other artists of color. His story will inspire budding young artists to work hard and follow their dreams.
     

About this title

About the Authors

Kathleen Benson is the author of several picture books, many of which she co-authored with her late husband, Jim Haskins, including John Lewis in the Lead, which won the NCSS Carter G. Woodson Award for the most distinguished social science book for young readers that depicts ethnicity in the United States. She lives in Manhattan.

Benny Andrews was a groundbreaking artist, author, teacher, and activist who is widely considered to be one of the finest African American painters of the twentieth century. His work is included in museum collections around the world. He illustrated many children's books, including Poetry for Young People: Langston Hughes by David Roessel and Arnold Rampersad, for which he was posthumously awarded the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Award; John Lewis in the Lead by Jim Haskins and Kathleen Benson, which won the NCSS Carter G. Woodson Award; and The Hickory Chair by Lisa Rowe Faustino, an ALA Notable book.

Reviews

Gr 4–6—Benny Andrews began drawing when he was able to hold pencil in his hands and "once he started, he never stopped." He was born in 1930, one of 10 children to sharecroppers, and attended high school at a time when few of his friends had similar opportunities. After the service and college, Andrews went to New York City, where his work began to blossom: in scenes of Harlem life, the jazz world, and of his Georgia childhood. Social causes and injustice, particularly the civil rights movement and the exclusion of African American and female artists from museums fueled both his art and activism. Thick with broad, vibrant swatches of greens, blues, and reds and incorporating collage elements, the artist's folklike paintings depicted the world around him—and illustrate Benson's moving and accessible picture book biography. Whether two or three dimensional, existing on a shallow stage or in an expansive landscape, Andrews's often elongated, stylized figures carry weight and their postures tell stories of oppression, of joy, of curiosity, and of pride. Readers will recognize the artist as the illustrator of Jim Haskins's John Lewis in the Lead (Lee & Low, 2006), Delivering Justice (Candlewick, 2005), and Langston Hughes (Sterling, 2006). His poignant portrayals of the human condition in these and other titles and in paintings hanging on museum walls long ago earned him the title he chose for himself: the "people's painter." A powerful work about an influential artist and activist.—Daryl Grabarek, School Library Journal

Born in Plainview, Georgia, in 1930, African American artist Benny Andrews started to draw when he was three years old and never stopped. This picture-book biography describes the determined and successful life of Andrews, born to parents who worked multiple jobs to keep their 10 children fed. While his classmates went to work the cotton fields, he dreamed of leaving. With help—and a three-mile walk to school—Andrews finished his education and eventually enrolled in art school in Chicago. Throughout his life, his art focused on the people around him, from Chicago’s jazz musicians to New York’s civil rights activists. He also became an art teacher, fighting for equal rights for African Americans and espousing that “art is for everyone,” whether they are prison inmates or children recovering from Hurricane Katrina. There’s no better illustrator for this narrative than Andrews himself. His folk art style features paint and fabric collages with elongated forms and tactile brushstrokes. Photographs, an author’s note, and a detailed time line offer more information on this influential American artist. Grades 2-4. --Angela Leeper

Edition details

• Publisher: Clarion Books
• Publication date: 2015
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0544104870
• ISBN 13: 9780544104877
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Andrews Benny
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32