Illus. in full color. "Ringgold recounts the dream adventure of eight-year-old Cassie Louise Lightfoot, who flies above her apartment-building rooftop, the 'tar beach' of the title, looking down on 1939 Harlem. Part autobiographical, part fictional, this allegorical tale sparkles with symbolic and historical references central to African-American culture. The spectacular artwork resonates with color and texture. Children will delight in the universal dream of mastering one's world by flying over it. A practical and stunningly beautiful book."--(starred) Horn Book. Tar BeachBy Faith Ringgold
Illustrated by Faith Ringgold
Edition: illustrated
Published by Crown Publishers, 1991
Original from the University of Michigan
Digitized Nov 15, 2007
ISBN 0517580306, 9780517580301
32 pages Ages 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
A Harlem-born artist expands on one of ...
... her distinctive ""quilt paintings"" to create a marvelously evocative book that draws on her own imaginative life as a child. As explained in a concluding note, Ringgold's ""Woman on a Bridge"" series, including Tar Beach (reproduction included), is now in the Guggenheim. Combining the traditional association between flying and the escape of slaves to freedom with her own fantasies as a child who delighted in the sense of liberation and empowerment she felt on a rooftop from which she saw stars twinkling among the lights of nearby George Washington Bridge, Ringgold has fashioned a poignant fictional story about eight-year-old Cassie, who dreams that she can claim the bridge (and freedom and wealth) by soaring above the city; she can even own the Union Building that her skillful father helped to build--though he is often out of work because he is denied membership in the union. The triumphant soaring of imagination over reality is beautifully expressed in Ringgold's bold, vibrant paintings, newly rendered to tell this story, and with details from the quilt's glowing patchwork as a delightful continue along the bottom of each page. Beautiful, innovative, and full of the joy of one unconquerable soul.Kirkus Reviews Copyright (c) VNU Business Media, Inc.
The George Washington Bridge (which connects New Jersey and New York) was built in 1931 and is one of the first suspension bridges in the United States. Do a search.
Also try:
The People Could Fly (Gr 3-5 Lesson Plan)
I'm Flying
On Grandma's Roof
The George Washington Bridge (which connects New Jersey and New York) was built in 1931 and is one of the first suspension bridges in the United States. Do a search.
Also try:
The People Could Fly (Gr 3-5 Lesson Plan)
I'm Flying
On Grandma's Roof
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