Jackie Ormes Draws the Future: The Remarkable Life of a Pioneering Cartoonist

by Liz Montague

Overview

Zelda Jackson - or Jackie - was born in Pittsburgh in 1911 and discovered early on that she could create any adventure. A field she could run through as far as her hand could draw. An ocean she could color as blue as she liked. As she grew, Jackie put her artistic talents to use, doodling and chronicling daily life for her high school yearbook. But she was already deaming of bigger things. Jackie would go on to create cartoon characters from the 1930s to 1950s - Torchy Brown, Candy, Patty-Jo 'n' Ginger - who entertained readers of African American newspapers. The characters were honest and bold and witty, and through them, Jackie tackled racism, pollution, and social justice - and made the world listen. Here is an inspiring picture-book biography about the first Black female American cartoonist, written and illustrated by one of the first Black female New Yorker cartoonists.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780593426548
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	05/16/2023
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	8.60(w) x 11.10(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	AD790L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Liz Montague is a cartoonist, writer, and illustrator whose work focuses on the intersection of self and social awareness. She began contributing cartoons to the New Yorker in 2019 and has illustrated for the US Open, Food Network, Google, and the Joe Biden presidential campaign. She’s been profiled by the Washington Post, ABC News, and Today, among other media outlets. Liz is the creator of the popular Liz at Large cartoon series, which previously ran in Washington City Paper, and is passionate about documenting social change and protest movements. Her first book for children, the graphic memoir Maybe an Artist, will be published in October 2022.

Editorial Reviews

2023-02-25
One African American woman cartoonist pays respects to the inspirational creativity and persistence of another.

Ormes (1911-1985), born Zelda Jackson, realized as a child that “adventure didn’t have to be caught—it could be created.” She went on to become a journalist, was probably the first Black woman to have a nationally syndicated cartoon, and, as the creator of “Torchy Brown” and “Patty-Jo ’n’ Ginger,” was a perceptive commentator on both the Great Migration and the early civil rights movement. The author ends with Ormes’ invention of the latter comic’s spunky child character but goes on in a brief afterword to highlight her likewise venturesome design for an upscale, brown-hued Patty-Jo doll in the late 1940s. Though there is but one reproduced example of Ormes’ cartoon work, the bright, cleanly drawn pop-art illustrations make clear her focus, confidence, and intelligence, casting her as an alert observer who fearlessly takes in whatever is going on around her (even placing her inside the ring while covering a prizefight for an early assignment). Visible faces in the art are all Black or brown. Traci N. Todd’s Holding Her Own (2023), illustrated by Shannon Wright and aimed at a slightly older audience, offers more biographical detail, but both of these profiles are silent about Ormes’ later life. Still, as a role model for creative achievement, she merits all the attention she can get. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Warm tribute to an unjustly obscure artist. (author’s note, selected sources, photographs) (Picture-book biography. 6-9)

Kirkus Reviews

★ "A must purchase for libraries. Its overarching theme of persistence will resonate with readers." —School Library Journal

"[A] Warm tribute to an unjustly obscure artist." —Kirkus Reviews

"A fine choice for artist biography collections, especially where comics artists are popular." —Booklist

"A labor of love by Montague, who winningly styles images after the subject’s work." —Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher