CCBC booklist are compiled from books we have recommended in various editions of CCBC Choices. Most of these booklists are updated annually. You can also select books from one or more booklists to create a custom list, which can also include additional books from the CCBC-Recommended Book Search.
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You Gotta Meet Mr. Pierce! The Storied Life of Folk Artist Elijah Pierce
CCBC Review:
Mr. Pierce’s barbershop is the place to be according to the young Black narrator of this joyful picture book. “Razors and roaring laughter. Scissors and stories. Tonics and tunes on the radio.” But the shop is more than a barbershop. It’s also an art gallery, full of the wood carvings that Mr. Pierce has created. Mr. Pierce tells the boy that he started carving when he was a boy himself. “I could see a picture that I liked, or a person would tell me a story … and I’d get me a piece of wood and start to carve it. … Everything I carve, I want it to tell some kind of story.” This inventive, inspired introduction to Black folk artist Elijah Pierce imagines an encounter between Pierce and a fictional Black child in the late 1970s. But Pierce’s barbershop gallery in Columbus, Ohio, and the astonishing body of work he created are real, as are the quotes from Pierce throughout the story. Pierce’s work ranged from animals to Bible stories to portraits to personal history. Photographs of 11 of his pieces are included in the end matter, along with an informative author’s note, a timeline, and illustrator’s note. The illustrator used the mokuhanga printmaking process along with collage to make striking images perfectly suited to a book about a folk artist. ©2023 Cooperative Children’s Book Center
Illustrated by Jennifer Mack-Watkins
CCBC Age Recommendation: Ages 7-11
Age Range:
PreK-Early Elementary (Ages 4-7)
Grades 3-5 (Ages 8-10)
Grades 6-8 (Ages 11-13)
Format:
Picture book
Subjects:
20th Century
African Americans
Art and Artists
Stories and Storytelling
Diversity subject:
Black/African
Christian
On CCBC Booklist:
Picture Books for Older Children and Teens: Never Too Old
Publishers:
Penguin Random House, Kokila
Publish Year: 2023
Pages: 38
ISBN: 9780593406502
CCBC Location: Non-Fiction, 920 Pierce
Can’t find what you’re looking for? Our Recommended Book Search includes access to CCBC-recommended titles based on subject headings created by our staff.
Please send questions or comments about CCBC booklists to ccbcinfo@education.wisc.edu.