07/08/2019
This introduction to the life of the Japanese-American artist Ruth Asawa (1926–2013) follows her early life growing up on a farm, her time at the legendary Black Mountain College, and the trip to Mexico where she learned to weave with wire. Colorful textural collage illustrations convey the way her creative practice was informed by the world around her (“She loved to draw forms in the dirt with her bare feet”). They are less successful in conveying the magic of her mesmerizing sculptural creations, though a small photo in the supplemental materials gives readers a glimpse of Asawa’s work. These materials also offer context on Japanese-American internment—something Asawa experienced but which was left out of the narrative at the request of her estate. Instructions for a paper dragonfly close the book, encouraging readers to emulate this teacher, who “knew that the best way to learn is to use your hands.” Ages 5–8. (Sept.)
"D’Aquino showcases how Asawa’s curiosity and handiwork, set amidst charcoal and colored-pencil drawings and mixed-paper collages, carried her into adulthood, where her creative talent began to receive praise and attention. Through this picture-book contribution, not only will Asawa’s art reach a new audience, but her artistic practice will inspire the next generation of creative minds to express themselves with handmade art. A worthwhile addition to picture-book collections everywhere."
- Booklist
"Andrea D’Aquino introduces us to Asawa as a little girl who spends her time looking closely at the world and making things with whatever was at hand. “What a fascinating shape your shell is, Snail,” she has Ruth say. D’Aquino nicely connects the imaginative life of the child with the professional artist she became. This is reinforced in the illustrations, which are a playful combination of pencil drawings and collage with a loose and spontaneous feel. I first saw Asawa’s luminous wire sculptures a few years ago, and I was struck by how beautifully D’Aquino’s renderings capture the spirit of Asawa’s work."
- The New York Times Book Review
"D’Aquino’s illustrations utilize charcoal, colored pencil, and collage with beautiful muted colors and whimsical designs. D’Aquino also includes illustrated instructions on how to create a paper dragonfly, a great activity for storytime."
- School Library Journal
"I admit that I hadn’t heard of Ruth Asawa before reading this picture book-which is kind of why books like this are so important. It's a lovely book."
- GeekDad
"Charcoal-and-colored-pencil drawings combine with hand-painted and monoprinted paper in a striking collage representation of Asawa's work. D'Aquino provides close-ups of the snail and dragonfly, a landscape layout of basket craftsmen, and a geometric kaleidoscope of squares layered upon squares, offering a variety of perspectives and media. An author's note explains her inspiration for the book and offers sobering facts about the Asawa family's internment in various camps. Additional resources enable young artists to discover this artist's work for themselves and offer step-by-step instructions to create a folded paper dragonfly. This distinctive biography brims with artistic vision as it informs about a signature sculptor."
- Kirkus Reviews
"D’Aquino offers young readers “the story of an artist you may have never heard of": Ruth Asawa (1926-2013), a Japanese American creator of nature-inspired wire sculptures. A third-person text effectively uses occasional imagined quotations from young Ruth to convey the sense of curiosity and wonder at the natural world that would later define this artist. Throughout the narrative, there’s also an emphasis on the handmade-from a childhood spent on a farm to her studies at Black Mountain College to learning basket-weaving from a local craftsperson in Mexico, which would inspire her woven-wire sculptures. The book’s illustrations, too, evoke the handmade; charcoal and colored-pencil drawings are combined with hand-painted and monoprinted paper in distinctive, naive-style collages."
- The Horn Book Magazine
"At once whimsical and subdued, charcoal, colored pencil, and collage art captures the wonder of her innovative wire sculptures."
- San Francisco Chronicle
"Andrea D’Aquino introduces us to Asawa as a little girl who spends her time looking closely at the world and making things with whatever was at hand. D’Aquino nicely connects the imaginative life of the child with the professional artist she became. This is reinforced in the illustrations, which are a playful combination of pencil drawings and collage with a loose and spontaneous feel. I first saw Asawa’s luminous wire sculptures a few years ago, and I was struck by how beautifully D’Aquino’s renderings capture the spirit of Asawa’s work."
- The New York Times Book Review
"Author and illustrator Andrea D'Aquino's thoughtful words and art pay homage to Ruth Asawa's work and deftly capture its extraordinary spirit. One of our favorite books published this year."
- Avery Augustine
"This introduction to the life of the Japanese-American artist Ruth Asawa (1926-2013) follows her early life growing up on a farm, her time at the legendary Black Mountain College, and the trip to Mexico where she learned to weave with wire. Colorful textural collage illustrations convey the way her creative practice was informed by the world around her. Instructions for a paper dragonfly close the book, encouraging readers to emulate this teacher, who “knew that the best way to learn is to use your hands.”
- Publishers Weekly
"Asawa never attained the kind of name recognition accorded woman sculptors like Louise Nevelson and Louise Bourgeois. Happily, a clutch of recent books should help burnish her reputation and explain why her innovations have not received greater acknowledgment among historians and curators."
– The Wall Street Journal
"Ruth Asawa was an award-winning Japanese-American sculptor, activist, and influential individual, who was 'a beloved figure in the Bay Area art world.' A Life Made by Hand beautifully showcases her creative journey, which started on her family farm and took her to Black Mountain College, where she “pursued an experimental course of education with leading avant-garde artists.” Included in the book is a page of teaching tools for parents and educators reading this book to the young art lovers of today."
– Romper,
"
10/01/2019
K-Gr 3—In this picture book, author and illustrator D'Aquino tells the story of how Ruth Asawa became an artist. Raised in California, Asawa, along with her family, worked on a farm. Asawa was interested in nature and very good with her hands. She explored the shapes she observed in nature and began to re-create them out of wire and paper. On the weekends, Asawa attended Japanese school, where she learned calligraphy. She went to Black Mountain College and later traveled to Mexico, where she learned to weave wire into baskets from a local craftsman. Asawa began weaving and never stopped, creating amazing structures that can be found in museums today. D'Aquino's illustrations utilize charcoal, colored pencil, and collage with beautiful muted colors and whimsical designs. D'Aquino focuses on Asawa as an artist, but an author's note discusses Asawa's time in Japanese internment camps in the 1940s. The narrative focuses on Asawa's voyage as an artist at the family's bequest. Resources with more information are appended. D'Aquino also includes illustrated instructions on how to create a paper dragonfly, a great activity for storytime. VERDICT Recommended for primary school libraries and children's collections in public libraries. Also recommended for libraries with art collections.—Lia Carruthers, Gill St. Bernard's School, Gladstone, NJ
2019-06-10
The simplest objects can turn into art when you draw from life, nature, and personal passion.
Fascinated by a snail's shell, gossamer dragonfly wings, and a spider's complex web, Ruth Asawa carefully observed tiny details around her family farm, her hands constantly busy with found objects such as wire and paper. Simple, straightforward text tells how she drew inspiration from Japanese calligraphy, dancers who bent their bodies into shapes, and craftsmen in Mexico who twisted wire baskets. With this last, Ruth had found her medium and her lifelong obsession. Her own wire structures became graceful, weightless works of art, looped structures that invited others to look closely and imagine what they see, providing inspiration to future young artists. Charcoal-and-colored-pencil drawings combine with hand-painted and monoprinted paper in a striking collage representation of Asawa's work. D'Aquino provides close-ups of the snail and dragonfly, a landscape layout of basket craftsmen, and a geometric kaleidoscope of squares layered upon squares, offering a variety of perspectives and media. An author's note explains her inspiration for the book and offers sobering facts about the Asawa family's internment in various camps—facts that are omitted from the story proper. Additional resources enable young artists to discover this artist's work for themselves and offer step-by-step instructions to create a folded paper dragonfly.
This distinctive biography brims with artistic vision as it informs about a signature sculptor. (Picture book/biography. 5-8)