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

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