Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat

Sunshine pours from this wonderfully passionately ,poetically beautiful,easy to understand ,enriching ,moving and very cool artwork story of Basquait childhood...it's like you are carried to New York and are there with him and his parents....my young students loved reading out the story along with me....Highly rate this book!

Sent as a gift. Recipient loved it. I’ve taught art from it. Beautiful book

Stunning storytelling of an important artist in words & pictures

An especially important read for children who like colouring outside the lines, who do not easily conform, whose creativity has not been conditioned. An affirming real-life story for the genius lurking inside the rest of us. Suitable for older kids.

Strange children's book which I cannot recommend. Surprised that it apparently received awards, which made me purchase the item. No attempt to reproduce any of Basquiat's work, presumably because of difficulty obtaining rights.

There is really no way to describe the beauty of this "Picture Book" as it tells an immensely complex tale of an immensely complex artist -- in a way that kids can recognize themselves in this icon of a generation. The collage of visuals either follow, or lead, the complexity of Basquiat's life. For all those Baby Boomers having kids there late 40s and fifties, Javaka Steptoe's work allows your youngsters to know a part of you and history. Not to mention, no one else I've seen can hold the attention of a bunch of kids in a library like this author seems to. The Caldecott Medal was well aimed.

“Somewhere in Brooklyn, between hearts that thump, double Dutch, and hopscotch and salty mouths that slurp sweet ice, a little boy dreams of being a famous ARTIST.” Those are the words that begin “Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat,” a 40-page art-and-text book for kids by Javaka Steptoe. But… grades 1 to 5? Ages 6-10? Really? I mean, yes, great, little kids will love the art and one of them, a dreamer, will think he’ll grow up to be a great artist, but this book is also terrific for tweens who may not care about art but who like short texts and great visuals. My daughter is coming up on her 15th birthday — she’s getting this book. And you, the adult reading this: If your ideal of a visual binge is multiple episodes of something on the flat screen and you’d like some rich, vibrant eye candy wrapped around a poem, yeah, do it. (Style advice: Then put it on the coffee table, like it’s an award-winning art book.) I’m not the only one who’s nuts about “Radiant Child.” It won the 2017 Randolph Caldecott Medal. It was a “best book” of the year for the Washington Post, NPR, Kirkus and Publishers Weekly, and many more. Why? Because what Javaka Steptoe has recorded in this book is the arc from dream to accomplishment. What ingredients are necessary for that to happen. Who needs to provide support. The price that gets paid. And who gets acknowledged at the pinnacle. As a kid, he tells us, Basquiat “wakes from his dreams” to draw. His work is “sloppy, ugly, and sometimes weird, but somehow still BEAUTIFUL.” His mother agrees; she lies on the floor and draws with him. She takes him to theater and museums, showing him what’s possible. There’s a powerful spread of Basquiat in short pants, holding his mother’s hand, as he stares at his favorite picture, Picasso’s “Guernica.” And then, disaster: “His mother’s mind is not well.” She can no longer live at home. Heartbroken, Jean-Michel tries to draw the blues, but can’t. He leaves Brooklyn, and on the streets of New York sees an energy equal to his own. He draws on walls and streets. His graffiti gets noticed. He becomes a famous painter. People describe him as “radiant, wild, a genius child, but in his heart he is king.” He draws crowns for himself and people he admires. He still visits his mother. They talk about art. And in his paintings, he gives his mother “the place of honor. She’s “a queen on a throne.” These few words are matched by Steptoe’s art. He doesn’t paint Basquiat’s pictures, he channels his spirit, using discarded wood and then painting on it. Steptoe creates grids, then breaks the images up; the pages aren’t neat. The result is a book of powerful physicality. And emotion — Steptoe’s father is a noted illustrator, but much of the story of Basquiat and his mother is also, sadly, the story of Steptoe and his mother. Mental illness, the loss of a parent, art that doesn’t live between the lines — isn’t this a lot for a 6-year-old? Depends. I have a box of our daughter’s art from that age; she had something going. And what kids understand? You’d be surprised. As for their dreams, don’t be stunned if “getting famous” is on the list. A prudent parent who reads this book to a child and then hands it over would do well to have to some art supplies handy. Basquiet died of an overdose when he was 27. But not in these pages. This is the story of a boy with a dream. He worked hard. He made it. He deserves the crown he wears. Triumph. Who doesn’t wish for that?

Beautiful book. Good for adults as well as kids.