A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin

Written by Jen Bryant. Illustrated by Melissa Sweet.

Alfred A. Knopf, 2013. Unpaged. Picture Book

This delightful biography picture book tells the story of the mostly self-taught Horace Pippin and how he became a famous and well-respected folk artist. Through charming and easy-to-understand language, Bryant describes Pippin's childhood in the late 1800s and the many odd jobs he worked as a teen and young adult. She tells of his experiences as a soldier in World War I and how his war injury actually leads him back to his love of art. Pippin's spirit and determination are evident as he gradually makes his way from the charcoal drawings of his childhood to the exhibition of his paintings in the most well-known art museums around the world. Sweet's illustrations, created in Pippin's style, include inspirational quotes from Pippin and are the perfect complement to this enchanting story.

Comments

Review: The New Girl

The New Girl By Cassandra Calin New York: Graphix, 2024. Comic. 261 pages. 12-year-old Lia and her family have just moved from Romania to Montreal, and she's doing her best to keep up with the changes. But, she's homesick. She misses the rest of her family, her friends, and her favorite Romanian treats. She doesn't speak French and her English is shaky, which makes it hard to make friends, even in her international immersion class. And she's dealing with super painful menstrual cramps every month. But before long, Lia starts to hit her stride. She befriends the other bilingual girls in her class, she gets a spot as the artist for her school's magazine, and even has a new crush -- Julien. Though she may be the new girl, Lia is starting to fit in. This slice of life graphic novel is an adorable choice for middle grade readers and young teens. Lia is a likable protagonist and readers will have little difficulty relating to her adjustment to school. The text speaks to a...

Review: The Factory

The Factory By Catherine Egan New York, NY : Scholastic Inc., 2025. Fiction. 306 pages. Thirteen-year-old Asher Doyle has been invited to join the Factory, a secretive research facility in the desert which ostensibly extracts renewable energy from the electromagnetic fields of its young recruits. But Asher soon realizes something sinister is going on. Kids are getting sick. The adults who run the Factory seem to be keeping secrets. And the extraction process is not only painful and exhausting, but existentially troubling. Asher makes a handful of new friends who help him with an investigation that turns into a resistance, which turns into...a cliffhanger! The Factory is a page-turning sci-fi with multidimensional characters, an intriguing plot, and refreshingly straight-forward writing. Egan weaves in detail about climate crises and social unrest, making the story's dystopian setting feel rich and plausible. With its sophisticated themes and accessible storytelling, I would recomm...

Five Favorite Aunt and Uncle Books

Aunt and Uncle Day I discovered a new holiday. Apparently, July 26th is National Aunt and Uncle Day! In order to celebrate this day, I am sharing my five favorite middle grade books that have stellar aunts and uncles. Now, due to a lot of various circumstances, these books have a lot of hard things (death of a parent, parental neglect, and one case of good parents sending their child off to visit an uncle during summer vacation). So, be aware that these titles not only showcase some amazing aunts and uncles, but they also open the door to talk about hard topics. Closer to Nowhere By Ellen Hopkins Putnam’s Sons, 2020. This book is actually told from two different points of view—Hannah and Cal’s; however, the two protagonists are cousins. Cal comes to live with Hannah’s family and Hannah’s mom—Cal’s aunt—becomes Cal’s support and champion. Cal’s mom died and his dad is in prison. Cal is in a family foster care situation and doesn’t feel like he belongs. Hann...

Provo Library Children's Book Blog

Search This Blog