Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Georgia O'Keeffe
Illustrator: Rochelle Draper
Nonfiction
For ages 6 to 8
Lerner, 1996 ISBN: 978-0876148983
When she was a young woman teaching art classes at Columbia College in South Carolina, Georgia O'Keeffe realized that the paintings that she created were not true to herself. Instead they were paintings that she had painted for others and in the style of other painters. What was her style? Georgia did not know, but she did know how she saw things, and she decided to paint the way she saw the world around her – using shapes and space in a new way.
And so Georgia began to create drawings that were unique. No one had seen anything like them and some people did not like what they saw. There were many people who did like the drawings however, and the gallery where they were displayed in New York City ended up keeping the drawings up for two extra months because so many people wanted to see them.
Georgia got to know the galley owner very well over the next few years, and in 1924 they were married. Theirs would be a happy partnership, and for the rest of her life Georgia drew and painted what she wanted, how she wanted.
In this On my own biographies title the author truly captures the nature of Georgia O'Keeffe's independent spirit. She shows young readers that Georgia was a brave person who dared to explore and express her art in her own way. Linda Lowery manages to say a great deal in a text that was designed to be suitable for novice readers. Her account is meaningful without being wordy or overly complicated. This is an excellent biography for your readers who are new to reading, and who are not familiar with Georgia O'Keeffe's life and art.
