Kathy Whitehead

I enjoyed hearing this story read aloud. Clementine Hunter was an amazing artist who lived in a time period that did not treat black people fairly. Because of this, she wasn't even allowed to see her own art hanging in a gallery without sneaking in after hours. While I can't even begin to identify with the struggles she faced, this book pushed me to think about tough issues such as racism and broadened my perspective. The illustrations in this book were also captivating. The colorful and vibrant drawings really set the mood of the whole story. There is one page where Clementine is selling her art out of a shack outside. This helped me picture the setting in my head. The only thing that kind of upset me was that the illustrations were not actually by Clementine, which I find strange considering she was a great artist. The big point of this book is to discuss the life accomplishments and struggles of Clementine Hunter and to make the reader think about life outside of their own.… (lisätietoja)

Art from her Heart was a good book to teach history but was lacking in many ways at telling the reader about Clementine Hunters life. I really enjoyed the history in this book. Throughout the book the reader could see the struggles of an African- American growing up during segregation and the extent that was gone to keep African-Americans out of places even at art shows in which they are the painter. It also shows the poverty throughout the African -American community through pointing out that most of Clementine's supplies were donated to her. Although these are all great things to teach students in the classroom I believe the book truly left out a lot of information about Clementine's life and how she started out. The author informed the reader about how she started painting using left over supplies on old boards but she didn't start painting until she was in her 50's. What was her life like before she began to paint? Was Clementine given the opportunity to go to school? Did she always admire painting? These are a few questions the book never answered and I believe they are important because many artist, especially Clementine Hunter, paint about their own lives. The book truly taught the readers about perseverance, but I found it to be lacking in many ways.… (lisätietoja)