Wednesday, January 26, 2022

TCBR AWARENESS TOUR: Ablaze with Color: A Story of Painter Alma Thomas by Jeanne Walker Harvey - REVIEW + GIVEAWAY!

Hi guys and gals!
Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.


Today's post brings us a new tour currently brightening up the blogosphere with The Children's Book Review. It's a Picture Book that tells the story behind the first Black woman to have her own solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum in New York City AND she was also the first Black woman to have her work chosen for the White House collection. Pretty cool, right? To think...they all started with how she viewed the world...but I'm getting ahead of myself. Ladies and gents, allow me to introduce today's colorfully wonderful blog tour guest and book of choice...


Ablaze with Color: A Story of Painter Alma Thomas
by
Jeanne Walker Harvey
Illustrated by
Loveis Wise
9780063021891
Harper Collins

About the book...
Celebrate the life-changing power of art in this inspiring and stunningly illustrated picture book biography of American artist Alma Thomas.

Meet an incredible woman who broke down barriers throughout her whole life and is now known as one of the most preeminent painters of the 20th century. Told from the point of view of young Alma Thomas, readers can follow along as she grows into her discovery of the life-changing power of art.

As a child in Georgia, Alma Thomas loved to spend time outside, soaking up the colors around her. And her parents filled their home with color and creativity despite the racial injustices they faced. After the family moved to Washington DC, Alma shared her passion for art by teaching children. When she was almost seventy years old, she focused on her own artwork, inspired by nature and space travel.

In this celebration of art and the power of imagination, Jeanne Walker Harvey and Loveis Wise tell the incredible true story of Alma Thomas, the first Black woman to have a solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum in New York City and to have her work chosen for the White House collection. With her bold and vibrant abstract paintings, Alma set the world ablaze with color.

Ablaze with Color includes extensive backmatter with photos, an author’s and illustrator’s note, a timeline, and a list of sources and resources, which will be a great tool for parents, educators, and librarians. Perfect for Women’s History Month and Black History Month units alongside such favorites as Malala’s Magic Pencil, Hidden Figures, and Mae Among the Stars.







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This is the wonderful story of how one child's experience of the world surrounding, turned into a lifetime of beauty beheld, and eventually shared with the world.

The thing I love most about Picture Book biographical stories is that you really get to the heart of things.  Yes, they are short on details, but they convey some of the most important moments, the most remarkable discoveries, and the most powerful messages...as seen here.  Alma Thomas accomplished two things never before done by a Black woman, and made her mark in history without ever setting out to do that exact thing.  She simply was.  She soaked up the things she went through, sorted out the bad from the good, shone her own inner light on those captured images, and later in life blessed the world with her interpretations of those times.  It's wonderful to see those simple moments brought to life...ablaze with color.

An inspiring work filled with a story to remember, and images that come to life right off the page, this book is one I can easily see in the classroom setting as well as in family rooms setting the tone for the next generations moments of greatness.







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About the author...


Jeanne Walker Harvey has been a longtime docent at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Just like Alma Thomas, Jeanne believes that art brings us joy. Her other picture books include Maya Lin: Artist-Architect of Light and Lines and My Hands Sing the Blues: Romare Bearden’s Childhood Journey. Jeanne studied literature and psychology at Stanford University. She lives in Northern California.

Visit her online at www.jeanneharvey.com.


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About the illustrator...


Loveis Wise is an illustrator and designer from Washington, DC. They are currently based in Los Angeles and their work often speaks to themes of joy and liberation. Their work can be found through the New Yorker, Google, Adobe, and the New York Times.

You can find them online at www.loveiswise.com.




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Enter for a chance to win a classroom set of the picture book Ablaze with Color: A Story of Painter Alma Thomas!


Three (3) winners receive:
A classroom set of Ablaze with Color: A Story of Painter Alma Thomas, autographed and personalized for each student and the teacher by Jeanne Walker Harvey (no more than 30 books per set).







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Special thanks to Bianca at The Children's Book Review for the chance to bring this tour to you and to the publisher for the ecopy for review. (THANKS!) For more information on this title, the author, the publisher, this tour, or those on the horizon, feel free to click through the links provided above.  This title is set to release February 22nd, so mark your calendar or pre order your copy today.  Be sure to check out the rest of the stops on the tour for more bookish fun!


Until next time, remember...if it looks good, READ IT!





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