annieb123's Review of The Met Faith Ringgold (What the Artist Saw)

by Sharna Jackson

See the world through Faith Ringgold's eyes and be inspired to produce your own masterpieces.

Have you ever wondered exactly what your favorite artists were looking at to make them draw, sculpt, or paint the way they did? In this charming illustrated series of books to keep and collect, created in full collaboration with the Metropolitan Museum of Art, you can see what they saw, and be inspired to create your own artworks, too. In What the Artist Saw: Faith Ringgold, meet inspiring American activist Faith Ringgold. Step into her life and learn what led her to mix different media and craft powerful stories into quilts. Travel with her from Harlem, New York, to Europe, Ghana, and Nigeria. Pick a cause that you care about and try combining it with fabric or sculpture to make your own artworks!

In this series, follow the artists' stories and find intriguing facts about their environments and key masterpieces. Then see what you can see and make your own art. Take a closer look at landscapes with Georgia O'Keeffe, or even yourself, with Vincent van Gogh. Try carving a woodblock print at home with Hokusai. Every book in this series is one to treasure and keep: perfect for budding young artists to explore exhibitions with, and then continue their own artistic journeys.

Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

The Met Faith Ringgold is one of a new series of illustrated biographies of famous artists for young readers. Released 30th Nov 2021 by Penguin Random House on their DK imprint, it's 56 pages and is available in hardcover and ebook formats.

This is a clearly told and beautifully illustrated biography of the powerhouse painter, artist, writer, and creator Faith Ringgold. The text is full of age-appropriate details about the artist's life and works. One thing I really enjoyed about this book (and the others in the series) are the reader drawing and writing prompts generously scattered throughout. Readers are invited to think about a song they enjoy and describe why they like it, to make a mask and other mixed media projects, and many more. The prompts are placed on pages with tie-in background scenes and relevant observations about the artist's life and development. Although aimed at young readers, I learned things about Ms. Ringgold I didn't know before.

This would be a good choice for public or school library acquisition, for the home library, and for gift giving to a young reader, perhaps bundled with some drawing tools and supplies.

Five stars. Genuinely well written and illustrated.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

The Met Faith Ringgold (What the Artist Saw)

by Sharna Jackson

Reviewed by annieb123 on Dec 22, 2021

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