Gaudi

Architect of Imagination

A TRUE TALE WITH

A CHERRY ON TOP

NorthSouth Books

(pub.6.7.2022) 40 pages

Author: Susan B. Katz

Illustrator: Linda Schwalbe

Character: Antoni Gaudi

Overview:

"Colorful mosaics, playful flowing forms, imaginative facades—Barcelona shines with the buildings of Antoni Gaudí. How did the son of a Catalan blacksmith become a world-famous architect? The first years of Gaudí's life were challenging. Because of an illness, young Gaudí couldn’t attend school and was often alone. Many of his days were spent out in nature, which he would later call his great teacher. Even during his training as an architect in Barcelona, his teachers were puzzled, wondering: is he a 'genius or a fool?' Many considered his unusual ideas eccentric, sometimes even crazy. But Gaudí was simply ahead of his time. His buildings are now a UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) World Heritage Site."

Tantalizing taste:

" Exploring the curvy, cobblestone streets in the village, he watched the world with keen eyes. Gaudi noticed that everything in nature curved: from snails' shells to mountaintops, from a bird's breast to the shadow of tree branches. He began to appreciate the beauty in curved lines. With 'nature as his teacher,'' as he said, Antoni realized that bent did not mean broken."

And something more: The note at the back of the book explains that "To this day, Gaudi's La Sagrada Familia (the Sacred Family) Cathedral is the most visited monument in all of Spain, but because he didn't leave any plans, La Sagrada Cathedral is constantly under construction. Many Catalonian people believe that it will never truly be finished since nobody knows exactly how Gaudi wanted it to be." When I visited the Cathedral years ago, it was surrounded by scaffolding -- interesting to think of work continuing there with "an endless array of marvels," as Gaudi called them.

Sweet Justice

Georgia Gilmore and the Montgomery Bus Boycott

A TRUE TALE WITH

A CHERRY ON TOP

Random House Studio

(pub.1.11.2022) 40 pages

Author: Mara Rockliff

Illustrator: R. Gregory Christie

Character: Georgia Gilmore

Overview:

"Georgia Gilmore was cooking when she heard the news. Mrs. Rosa Parks had been arrested--pulled off a city bus and thrown in jail all because she wouldn't let a white man take her seat. To protest, the radio urged everyone to stay off city buses for one day: December 5, 1955. Throughout the boycott--at Holt Street Baptist Church meetings led by a young minister named Martin Luther King, Jr.--and throughout the struggle for justice, Georgia served up her mouth-watering fried chicken, her spicy collard greens, and her sweet potato pie, eventually selling them to raise money to help the cause.

Tantalizing taste:

" The empty buses made city officials hotter than Georgia's collard greens with pepper sauce. They didn't like to lose those bus fares, but they didn't want to change.

They sent out the police to ticket anyone who gave the boycotters a lift. People were arrested just for standing on the corner, waiting for a ride. Georgia made more pound cakes and banana puddings to help pay their fares."

And something more: The After the Boycott section explains that "Today, everyone has heard of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks. But the fight for justice and equality has never been the work of a few famous people. It was - and is - the work of thousands of courageous and persistent individuals like Georgia Gilmore. Although they might be in the 'Club from Nowhere,' they are heroes too."

"You cannot be afraid if you want to accomplish anything. You got to have the willing, the spirit, and above, all, you got to have the get-up."

- Georgia Gilmore

Fall Down Seven Times, Stand Up Eight

Patsy Takemoto Mink

and the Fight for Title IX

A TRUE TALE WITH

A CHERRY ON TOP

Quill Tree Books

(Haper Collins Publishers)

(pub.1.25.22) 48 pages

Author: Jen Bryant

Illustrator: Toshiki Nakamura

Character: Patsy Takemoto Mink

Overview:

"From a young age, Patsy Takemoto Mink learned that striving for goals came with challenges. But she also learned to never give up. As the Japanese proverb says: fall down seven times, stand up eight.

That spirit helped Patsy through school. She wanted to become a doctor, but at the time, medical schools didn’t admit women. So Patsy carved her own path. She went to law school, ran for a seat in the United States Congress, and helped create Title IX, the law that requires federally funded schools to treat boys and girls equally. Although many people tried to knock her down, Patsy—a historic trailblazer who spent her life fighting for fairness—always got up again!"

Tantalizing taste:

" At home, Patsy learned about traditions like the Daruma doll:

how to paint in one eye, work hard for a goal,

and then paint in the other eye to show you reached it.

When she touched the doll, it rolled over ... but then it sprang right back!

Fall down seven times, stand up eight.

It was an old Japanese saying that means never give up."

And something more: Jen Bryant, in the Author's Note, explains that "when four-year-old Patsy Takemoto followed her older brother into his classroom on the first day of school, everyone laughed. She'll get tired of it and quit, the adults predicted. But Patsy proved she belonged there. Years later, when she ran for the Hawaiian legislature, no one in her male-dominated Democratic Party thought she could win. But Patsy convinced people she could do a better job than the men - and she won.

And when, as a US Congresswoman, she co-sponsored a bill that required schools receiving government funds to treat men and women equally, few believed it would pass. But it did."