Benny Andrews considered himself a “people’s painter,” and this informative narrative, illustrated with vibrant paintings, recounts what he saw and experienced growing up—cotton fields, the hardship of black farm workers, segregation, and demonstrations for civil rights. Author’s Note, Timeline.

I love this little story and the accomplishments of Benny Andrews. It exemplifies his life achievements and the progression of his art.

This is a wonderful example of a biography because it gives stories of Benny Andrew's life. Describing how he became a well-known artist, the book uses his own art as illustrations. At the very end of the book there is a year by year timeline of his life, which is very nicely laid out. We can see that he was born in Plainview, Georgia. We can also see that he has impacted the Civil Rights movement, as well as the lives of familes who lost their homes to hurrican Katrina. We can even see the year he died of cancer. Even after his death, he continued to impact lives. This is a great book to introduce biographies to my students. I would use it as an example for biographies. I would aslo use it as a tool for research projects.
Media: Gouache

Benny Andrews (1930 - 2006) is considered to be one of the best African American artists of the twentieth century. He also illustrated over twenty children’s books. The author of this picture book was able to incorporate his own work into her story of his life.

Andrews was one of ten children of Georgia sharecroppers. Benson reports that Andrews began to draw when he was three years old, and never stopped. He didn’t want to continue to work in the fields when he grew up, so he walked three miles each way to high school, and then went to a college for black students. After serving in the Air Force, he used the tuition benefit to go to art school in Chicago.

When he finished his schooling, Andrews moved to New York City and became a working artist. He painted the people of Harlem, and continued to make pictures of his childhood in Georgia.

Andrews was a “figural painter,” meaning that his primary subject was the human figure. He employed both oil and mixed-media collage in the expressionist style, by which he depicted the world from a subjective rather than strictly realistic perspective. Recurrent themes included American identity, migration and the challenges and dignity of black life.

Andrews also became active in protesting for equal representation in museums for artists of color. He later began to teach in order to share his love of art, and to encourage people to use visual expression to tell their stories.

Evaluation: The writing in this book is a bit prosaic, but the pictures are worth the price of admission. ( )