- Apr 28, 2025
The Brilliant, Resilient Life of Artist Ruth Asawa
A TRUE TALE WITH
A CHERRY ON TOP
Roaring Brook Press
(pub. 2.25.2025)
40 pages
Ages 5 - 8
Author: Caroline McAlister
Illustrator: Jamie Green
Character: Ruth Asawa
Overview:
" Growing up on a dusty farm in Southern California, Ruth Aiko Asawa lived between two worlds. She was Aiko to some and Ruth to others, an invisible line she balanced on every day.
But when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, suddenly she was only Aiko, no matter how much her family tried to cut the lines that connected them to Japan. Like many other Japanese Americans, Ruth and her family were sent to incarceration camps.
At the Santa Anita racetrack, Ruth ran her fingers over the lines of horsehair in the stable stalls the family had moved into. At the Rohwer Relocation Center in Arkansas, she drew what she saw―bayous, guard towers, and the barbed wire that separated her from her old life.
That same barbed wire would inspire Ruth’s art for decades, as she grew into one of the most influential artists of the twentieth century. Throughout her career, she created enchanting twisting sculptures and curving shapes that connected, divided, and intersected."
Tantalizing taste:
"RUTH AIKO ASAWA
drew her first lines in the dry California dirt.
She watched her lines narrow and widen.
They curved gently like the rounded hills to the east,
like the ocean waves to the west,
and like the fat melons and cabbages
her family grew on their farm...
Ruth's life curved and twisted, looped and doubled back. Lines divided
and met.
Look at how her sculptures curve and curl, with lines that overlap and
intersect, connect and divide. They move in the breeze and cast shadows that
change with the light. Her art is for everyone and for all of time - graceful,
breathtaking, mysterious.
Look and then look again. Do you see
something new? Where do the lines lead?
What do they mean to you?"
And something more: Caroline McAlister in the Author's Note in A Line Can Go Anywhere shares: "As well as being an artist, Ruth was an activist for arts education... She began a program to bring working artists into public schools... Ruth famously said, 'Sculpture is like farming. If you just keep at it, you can get quite a lot done.'"
- Apr 25, 2025
The Art and Life of Yoko Ono
A TRUE TALE WITH
A CHERRY ON TOP
Atheneum Books for Young Readers
(Simon & Schuster)
(pub. 2.11.2025)
48 pages
Ages 4 - 8
Author: Lisa Tollin
Illustrator: Yas Imamura
Character: Yoko Ono
Overview:
" Yoko Ono has been called many things: Bold. Confrontational. Controversial. Artist. Musician. Witch.
But she has always been, first and foremost, Yoko: a girl who used her imagination to escape the horrors of World War II, and then a woman who used that same gift to find peace after an act of unfathomable violence."
Tantalizing taste:
"Yoko turns her dreams into art.
She creates a chessboard all in
white and invites people to play.
How might a game work if you and
your opponent are the same?
She asked people to glue
together shards of broken pottery
to show that even broken things
deserve healing.
Yoko has strangers write wishes on paper and tie them
to a tree until the branches are covered. The dreams of
all humanity, joined together."
And something more: Lisa Tollin in the Author's Note in Can You Imagine? explains: "Almost fifty years after iImagine' was recorded, Yoko was given songwriting credit on the song. Although her name was nor originally listed on the recording, John [Lennon] had said it should be been.... It was one of the most performed songs of the twentieth century... She worked on a campaign to end childhood hunger, called 'Imagine There's No Hunger.'"
- Apr 25, 2025
A TRUE TALE WITH
A CHERRY ON TOP
Amistad Books for Young Reader
(Harper Collins)
pub. 11.5.2024
48 pages
Ages 4 - 8
Author: Renée Watson
Illustrator: Sherry Shine
Character: Cicely Tyson
Overview:
" Cicely Tyson was born in New York City to parents originally from the Islands. No matter where she was, Cicely always carried light within her, a light that she let shine.
After many years of discovering herself, Cicely finally found where her light could shine the brightest and touch others: in film."
Tantalizing taste:
"Cicely made a statement
every time she entered a room.
She became a fashion icon,
known for wearing unique,
bold clothes...
one -of-a-kind creations
for a one-of-a kind soul...
Cicely played more than one hundred roles
in her lifetime.
Beyond the characters she played on stages and sets
in real life she impacted many lives."
And something more: "In 2016 President Barack Obama awarded Cicely the highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Cicely Tyson has not only exceeded as an actor, he said. She has shaped the course of history."
