Ruth Asawa: A Sculpting Life

by Joan Schoettler, Traci Van Wagoner (Illustrator)

Overview

In this extraordinary picture book, author Joan Schoettler imparts the life of a remarkable woman, teacher, and artist. From the Japanese-American internment camps to the creation of the San Francisco School of the Arts, Ruth Asawa's life journey is one filled with injustice, learning, and expression. Known as the "Fountain Lady" of San Francisco due to the many fountains she designed, Asawa experimented with unconventional mediums, using lines, space, and wire to create dimensional sculptures. The thorough research of illustrator Traci Van Wagoner is vividly apparent in the dynamic depictions of Asawa and her life that are sure to fascinate and inspire young readers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781455623976
Publisher:	Arcadia Publishing SC
Publication date:	08/30/2018
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	1,084,415
Product dimensions:	8.60(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	6 - 9 Years

About the Author

"When beginning research on a particular artist, I try to visit museums and public spaces where their art is displayed. Researching their lives, their work, and their views of the world inspires me to share their art and knowledge with young readers."

Author Joan Schoettler grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she became acquainted with Ruth Asawa's wire sculptures and fountains. Schoettler earned a MA in reading and language arts from Fresno Pacific University. She is a member of the Society for Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) and the 2013 recipient of an APALA Award for Best Picture Book. She lives with her husband in California.

Traci Van Wagoner earned bachelor of fine arts degrees in illustration and advertising design from Utah State University and in toy design from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. In addition to book illustration, Van Wagoner writes, designs toys and characters, and paints portraits. She is a long-standing member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. Van Wagoner lives in New York City, where she and her husband run their product development company, Imagine That! Design.

Editorial Reviews

10/01/2018
Gr 1–4—A serviceable introduction to artist and educator, Ruth Asawa. She was primarily a sculptor, known for her work with looped wire and public fountains, but she was also, at heart, an educator who believed in the importance of teaching and sharing art with children. The physical environment, regardless of how beautiful or bleak, was always an influential factor on Asawa's art; she studied, from a very young age, the lines, shapes, and empty space that make up the world. Asawa was also influenced by the adults in her life, many of whom became teachers and mentors, offering encouragement and guidance throughout the years. Van Wagoner's illustrations effectively evoke the mood of the narrative, brighter colors reflecting her more carefree youth on a farm in California, and then later, more muted, darker tones for World War II when she and her family were forced into internment camps. Images and perspectives from her youth and adulthood adroitly complement the straightforward, expository text. VERDICT This is a solid choice for picture book biography collections.—Jody Kopple, Shady Hill School, Cambridge, MA

School Library Journal

2018-07-30

Ruth Asawa's life emphasizes the values of perseverance and creativity in the face of extreme adversity.

During World War II, Ruth's family is rounded up and sent to internment camps, separated from their farm where Ruth grew up and found her first artistic inspiration. Still, she finds opportunities to study art and develop her vision, work she continues in adulthood as she discovers how to bend wire and make "sculptures of wire and air"—one of her signature creations. Others include fountains in San Francisco and a park to commemorate the internment camps. Declarative, straightforward text takes readers through her life, lacking, though, any warmth and details that would have breathed life into the story of this visionary artist. Instead, well-researched information will serve as useful educational material, including the backmatter, which offers photos to complement the realistic illustrations, rendered in dark tones throughout the book. Ruth often appears in green amid seas of brown and gray clothing worn by the families in the internment camps, helping her to stand out. Descriptions of life in the camp are sparse, limited to one double-page spread that mentions art class but depicts barbed wire, lines, and barracks as well as interior accommodations that resemble a child's room in a home.

A biography that seeks to illuminate the life of an artistic genius but offers instead an enumeration of details about her experiences. (author's note, list of public sculpture) (Picture book/biography. 5-8)

Kirkus Reviews