|
Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat
Last updated Sunday, August 15, 2021
Author: Javaka Steptoe
Date of Publication: 2016
ISBN: 9780316213882
Grade Level: 2nd (GLCs: Click here for grade level guidelines.)
Date(s) Used: Aug. 2021
Synopsis:
Jean-Michel Basquiat and his unique, collage-style paintings rocketed to fame in the 1980s as a cultural phenomenon unlike anything the art world had ever seen. But before that, he was a little boy who saw art everywhere: in poetry books and museums, in games and in the words that we speak, and in the pulsing energy of New York City.
Now, award-winning illustrator Javaka Steptoe's vivid text and bold artwork echoing Basquiat's own introduce young readers to the powerful message that art doesn't always have to be neat or clean - and definitely not inside the lines - to be beautiful.
| Note to readers: |
| • |
Read pages 20 – 22 before reading to kids for more information about Jean-Michel Basquiat.
|
| Discussion topics for before reading: |
| • |
School is starting in two days. How do you feel about that, especially since everyone will be masking up?
|
| • |
What flags do you see on the book cover? (Puerto Rican and Haitian Flags)
|
| • |
What makes someone “radiant”?
|
| • |
How do you release your stress/anger? art? sports? music?
Vocabulary
|
| • |
Enchant: fill (someone) with great delight; charm.
|
| • |
Patchwork: a thing composed of many different elements so as to appear marked by variety.
|
| • |
Jazz: a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime.
|
| • |
Blues: is also a music genre but can also be used to describe feelings of melancholy, sadness, or depression.
|
| • |
Barrage: a great amount of something that comes quickly and continuously
|
| • |
Collaging: a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole
|
| • |
Motif: describes any key idea that is emphasized in a creative piece through consistent repetition. Example: Basquiat crowns. “For Basquiat, crowns represented many things, such as power, or strength, and he often “gave” crowns to others in his artwork as a sign of respect.”
|
| Discussion topics for during/after reading: |
| • |
Where can you find art in your community?
|
| • |
What do you like to paint/draw?
|
| • |
Do you have a favorite piece of art? Describe it to us.
|
*Note: These craft ideas are just suggestions.
You can use them, but you don't have to use them.
You can expand upon them, or add your own twist.
Remember, though, that the focus of your time should
not be on the development and execution of a craft;
the focus should be on the read-aloud and the
enjoyment of the book!
|
