  | Everywhere beauty is Harlem : the vision of photographer Roy DeCarava Author: Golio, Gary | |
| Price: $23.28 | ||
Summary:
Roy DeCarava is an unsung hero of Black history. Convinced that the lives of ordinary Black people deserved to be immortalized and documented in photos, Roy celebrated Black people through his art.
| Illustrator: | Lewis, E. B |
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews (+) (11/01/23)
School Library Journal (01/26/24)
Booklist (10/15/23)
The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (00/01/24)
The Hornbook (00/01/24)
Full Text Reviews:
Booklist - 10/15/2023 Surprisingly, none of the illustrations in this loving tribute to African American photographer DeCarava—not even the three actual photos in the end matter—are examples of his work. Instead, Lewis gives a selection of DeCarava's subjects, such as a close-up of a crushed can, longer views of Harlem street scenes, and an isolated figure in wedding whites, original treatments that focus more on atmosphere than documentation and so make suitable companions for Golio’s impressionistic profile. “There’s a boy on his hands and knees, / drawing chalk on the sidewalk. / He looks up and grins. / SNAP! / Roy keeps on walking.” The author captures both his titular theme and his subject’s sensibility in well-chosen direct quotes, and along with adding a brief overview of DeCarava’s career, closes by urging readers to “look slowly,” as he did, to discover “what you love where you live.” Prints of his photos are available in exhibition catalogs, but a recent reprint of Langston Hughes’ Sweet Flypaper of Life makes a better sampling newly available for younger lookers. - Copyright 2023 Booklist.
School Library Journal - 01/26/2024 K-Gr 3—Veteran creators and collaborators Golio and Lewis (Dark Was the Night) spotlight the experience and perspective of Harlem artist Roy DeCarava. Known for his black-and-white photographs of scenes of everyday life, DeCarava said he showed "the strength, the wisdom, the dignity of the Negro people." Lewis's watercolors play with light in an ode to that work, though where DeCarava is known for deep blacks and complex greys, Lewis's watercolor illustrations are soft and light. Golio's prose is swift, providing a single snapshot of words on each page, devoid of excess. While each element of this book is beautiful and skillfully executed, there is a disconnect between DeCarava's work and this interpretation. Only three photographs grace the pages, all in the back matter: a portrait of DeCarava, a photo of his first camera, and a photo outside a Harlem apartment by an unknown photographer. The intensity—in emotion, tonality, and composition—of DeCarava's work is absent here and a disservice to readers. Ultimately, this love letter to an incredible artist needs the scaffolding of an extended biography. VERDICT Consider only for larger libraries and robust art/biography collections.—Taylor Worley - Copyright 2024 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.
