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briarsreviews's review
4.0
I'll be honest, I hadn't heard of Jean-Michel Basquait and after reading this I am totally intrigued! This might not be how Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara intended for her books to be used (you know, educating adults), but it definitely made me learn something! I am impressed!
This incredible man is an artist, and he started out small! Initially he liked music and drawing and reading! He used an anatomy book he was given by his Mother to hone his drawing skills, and eventually he became very famous for his incredible works.
I love this quirky little series. It's a non-fiction, picture book series featuring famous people and how they got to where they are. The pictures are always adorable, the stories are sweet and simplistic and it's packed full of useful knowledge! You might even learn a new face or two (like I have been whenever I pick up these books!).
I think there's something in this series for everyone. Not only will kids enjoy it, but parents will get a kick out of the new facts they learn or even just from picking up an educational book instead of just that Frozen picture book their child makes them read constantly.
Overall, I'm over the moon with this series and want to read as many of them as I can! I really enjoy them!
Four out of five stars.
Thank you to NetGalley and The Quarto Group for providing me yet another copy of this marvelous series in exchange of an honest review.
This incredible man is an artist, and he started out small! Initially he liked music and drawing and reading! He used an anatomy book he was given by his Mother to hone his drawing skills, and eventually he became very famous for his incredible works.
I love this quirky little series. It's a non-fiction, picture book series featuring famous people and how they got to where they are. The pictures are always adorable, the stories are sweet and simplistic and it's packed full of useful knowledge! You might even learn a new face or two (like I have been whenever I pick up these books!).
I think there's something in this series for everyone. Not only will kids enjoy it, but parents will get a kick out of the new facts they learn or even just from picking up an educational book instead of just that Frozen picture book their child makes them read constantly.
Overall, I'm over the moon with this series and want to read as many of them as I can! I really enjoy them!
Four out of five stars.
Thank you to NetGalley and The Quarto Group for providing me yet another copy of this marvelous series in exchange of an honest review.
graypeape's review
5.0
An interesting addition to the Little People, Big Dreams series. The books about artists are amongst my favorites in this series, as I love the thought of littles learning about art early, especially art that isn't perfectly pretty (although there's room for that too!). I learned a lot about Basquiat reading this, even though the text is kept simple for young readers, so I'm guessing kids will learn a lot too. The illustrations were fun, and represented the spirit of the subject well.
#JeanMichelBasquiat #NetGalley
#JeanMichelBasquiat #NetGalley
shelly416's review
4.0
Really cute! I was excited when I saw that the Little People series would be expanding, and this book was better than I expected.
fearandtrembling's review
5.0
Beautiful and heartwarming in these anxious times. The artwork is--as it always is in this series--stunning, inviting one to linger over the details and return to the images over and over. The images of him and Warhol are particularly lovely. I've always loved Basquiat's work and I can imagine that any child in love with colours and art (and which child isn't, really) would love to page through this book. Including adult children.
smorrison4's review
4.0
I requested and received an e-ARC of this book from NetGalley and the Quatro Group in exchange for my honest opinion.
This was not my favorite Little People, BIG DREAMS book but that is because I am not very interested in art or artists. That said this was still a great book about the short life of Jean-Michel Basquiat and the statements he made with his art and the influences he has on art today.
This was not my favorite Little People, BIG DREAMS book but that is because I am not very interested in art or artists. That said this was still a great book about the short life of Jean-Michel Basquiat and the statements he made with his art and the influences he has on art today.
aimeedarsreads's review
4.0
Self-taught graffiti artist Jean-Michel Basquait created bright, passionate, and energetic art that championed social justice and celebrated a diversity of experience. He gained fame at a young age, dating a then-unknown Madonna and befriending Andy Warhol, but struggles with drug addiction ultimately led to his untimely death at twenty-seven.
In the eight years he was active, Basquait was incredibly prolific, and he left an enduring legacy with his body of work, uniquely identifiable with its signature brush strokes, bold color, and inclusion of words and phrases.
The bestselling Little People, BIG DREAMS written by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara never disappoints me. Jean-Michel Basquait, illustrated by Luciano Lozano, tells Basquait’s life story in an abbreviated form and in language appropriate for children aged four to seven. An illustrated timeline and a short biography for adults follows the text. I loved the illustrations depicting Brooklyn of the 1960s, and Basquait and Warhol on a dance floor under a disco ball is priceless.
I do think the brief segment on Baquait’s teen years are a little confusing. At thirteen, his mother began a process of entering and leaving mental institutions, and he ran away from home at fifteen, though was back in his father’s care within a week. When seventeen, he dropped out of high school, and his father turned him out of the house. After that, Basquait found City-As-School, an alternative school. Much of this is included in the biography at the back of the book, but in the main text, the order of events is ambiguous, and it sounds like he dropped out of high school before he ran away. It might also have been instructive to include, at least in the biography, the fact that in May 2017, a Basquait painting sold for $110.5 million, the highest price commanded thus far by an American or black artist.
As in the other books in the series, Basquait came from unlikely beginnings to make a significant cultural impact. Not only is his story inspiring, it is too little known. This is a great introduction to his life and work, and I would certainly recommend it for anyone with young readers.
In the eight years he was active, Basquait was incredibly prolific, and he left an enduring legacy with his body of work, uniquely identifiable with its signature brush strokes, bold color, and inclusion of words and phrases.
The bestselling Little People, BIG DREAMS written by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara never disappoints me. Jean-Michel Basquait, illustrated by Luciano Lozano, tells Basquait’s life story in an abbreviated form and in language appropriate for children aged four to seven. An illustrated timeline and a short biography for adults follows the text. I loved the illustrations depicting Brooklyn of the 1960s, and Basquait and Warhol on a dance floor under a disco ball is priceless.
I do think the brief segment on Baquait’s teen years are a little confusing. At thirteen, his mother began a process of entering and leaving mental institutions, and he ran away from home at fifteen, though was back in his father’s care within a week. When seventeen, he dropped out of high school, and his father turned him out of the house. After that, Basquait found City-As-School, an alternative school. Much of this is included in the biography at the back of the book, but in the main text, the order of events is ambiguous, and it sounds like he dropped out of high school before he ran away. It might also have been instructive to include, at least in the biography, the fact that in May 2017, a Basquait painting sold for $110.5 million, the highest price commanded thus far by an American or black artist.
As in the other books in the series, Basquait came from unlikely beginnings to make a significant cultural impact. Not only is his story inspiring, it is too little known. This is a great introduction to his life and work, and I would certainly recommend it for anyone with young readers.