Kenya's Art

by Linda Trice, Hazel Mitchell (Illustrator)

Overview

Recycle! Reuse! Make Art!

Kenya’s class is on spring vacation and their teacher asked them to write a report about how they spent their time. But vacation is almost over and Kenya hasn't done anything worth noting. A late visit to a museum's recycling exhibit and a walk through her neighborhood with her daddy inspire Kenya to use her old, broken toys and other items to make art with her family. Now she's prepared to teach her whole class how to Recycle! Reuse! Make Art!

This warm and engaging companion to Kenya's Song depicts the enthusiasm and creativity of one young girl in a diverse community who engages wholeheartedly with her friends, her environment, and herself.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781570918483
Publisher:	Charlesbridge
Publication date:	01/12/2016
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	8.60(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	AD450L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Linda Trice is an author, professor, and professional speaker. Her books include Kenya's Song, also featuring Kenya and her family, and Charles Drew: Pioneer of Blood Plasma (McGraw-Hill). A native of Brooklyn, she now lives in Manhattan, New York.

Hazel Mitchell has illustrated several books for children, including Imani's Moon,Hidden New Jersey, and One Word Pearl. She is both author and illustrator of the forthcoming Toby (Candlewick).

Read an Excerpt

“Why are you playing with that old airplane?” Mosi asked.
(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "Kenya's Art"
by .
Copyright © 2016 Linda Trice.
Excerpted by permission of Charlesbridge.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Editorial Reviews

Booklist
This third entry in the Kenya series continues the practice of turning drab school assignments into intriguing adventures. This time the students in Mrs. Garcia’s class are asked to report on what they did over spring vacation. Kenya’s mom has asked her to get rid of her old toys, but she hasn’t, nor, she realizes, has she done much of anything over break. Kenya’s father takes her to a museum, where they encounter a nice twist on the Recycle, Reuse, Reduce exhortation in an exhibit called “Recycle! Reuse! Make Art!” The tour guide shows them a quilt, explaining how this is both a beautiful and practical reuse of discarded fabric. Then they see a mobile made out of used bottles recycled into art. Inspired, Kenya repurposes her broken toys into both useful and decorative objects, and she wows the class with her broken-toy sculpture. The bright watercolors amp up the action in this artistic take on sustainability.

School Library Journal Xpress Reviews
Kenya’s class has been given an assignment to complete over the spring vacation. The children need to write a report about what they did over the break. Everyone seems to have done something fun or special while on vacation, except Kenya. She hasn’t taught a puppy a new trick, learned to play an instrument, or even gone to soccer camp. Kenya feels like she won’t have anything interesting to write about. Her father suggests that they go to the museum and learn something new. At the museum, Kenya learns about recycling and reusing items. When she sees an interesting display made out of old plastic bottles and colorful streamers, Kenya becomes inspired to create her own “thingamabob.” This also motivates her family to form their own works of art with old objects from around the house. When Kenya returns to school, not only is she excited to share her information but she is also eager to teach everyone how to make their own thingamabobs. The colorful cartoon illustrations are a combination of digitally overpainted watercolor and graphite. The text and art are earnest and purposeful about recycling, reusing, and making art. VERDICT An additional title for Earth Day and environmental units.

From the Publisher

2015-11-03
A broken-toy purge turns into an art-making session in this didactic look at recycling and reuse. Kenya's story begins when her mother orders her to get rid of all her broken toys, including the one she is currently playing with, a prize from her art teacher. In a narrative shift, Kenya asks her dad for homework help—she has to tell her class what she did for spring vacation: nothing. A walk to the park only reinforces how much better her classmates' vacations have been. But a museum tour provides the spark: a quilt made with reused scraps and a sculpture: "This artist recycled used bottles and made something to look at. It's not useful, it's art," says the docent. Kenya labels it a "thingamabob." The whole family gets in on the act at home, making new things from old and creating art. Kenya makes her own thingamabob that is sure to have parents of packrats cringing: it's a huge heap of broken toys anchored in a clay base. Mitchell's detailed watercolor, graphite, and digital illustrations show a loving black family whose expressions are rather static. Kenya's friends and classmates tick off the other racial and ethnic boxes for a nicely rainbow classroom: white twins, a black trumpet player, an Asian soccer player, a Latina teacher. The emphasis on art as something that's not useful and on holding on to items by branding them as art makes this one to miss. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews