Frederick Law Olmsted was born in Hartford, Conn., in 1822. He was an intelligent and ambitious man whose many interests made it hard for him to settle on a career. Although his family was supportive and understanding, it was also large, and Olmsted's father could not afford to bankroll his eldest son forever. So Olmsted tried a number of different kinds of work: His love of nature caused him to take up farming; his concern for the urban poor and for black slaves led him to a brief career in writing; his administrative skills won him an appointment with the US Sanitary Commission during the Civil War. Olmsted was good, and occasionally successful, at these pursuits, but he had trouble finding the field—landscape architecture—that combined his many interests because it did not yet exist. (Olmsted and his sometime partner, Calvert Vaux, coined the term.) When New York City planned to create a public park, Olmsted was hired first as superintendent of the project and then architect-in-chief, after he and Vaux won first prize for their park design. Creating the park was a long and taxing job, but Olmsted loved it. Central Park today looks very much like Olmsted and Vaux's design. Olmsted went on to create more public parks and restore and preserve natural landscapes, like Niagara Falls. He died in 1903. Dunlap's (Aldo Leopold, not reviewed) biography is absorbing and readable. (Biography. 8-11)
Pub Date: Nov. 9, 1994
ISBN: 0-87614-824-0
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Carolrhoda
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1994
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
paper 1-57505-370-5 In this valuable addition to the On My Own Biography series of easy readers, Lowery (Georgia O’Keeffe, 1996, etc.) renders an intriguing and lucid portrait of the man often referred to as the most celebrated artist of the 20th century. The book begins with young Picasso puzzling over math equations. Finding math difficult, he came up with an inventive alternative, swirling and bending numbers on the page until they became fanciful creations. As a boy, Picasso was often sent to a “cell” as punishment for his lack of academic focus, but there he found the long hours nothing but pleasant, doing just what he loved best, “drawing, drawing, drawing.” This book takes readers on a journey through the highlights of Picasso’s life, visiting his Blue Period, his Rose Period and lingering over cubism. Lowery also makes clear Picasso’s mercurial and tempestuous nature, describing his swings from flamboyant rage to ecstatic joy. She aptly demonstrates how Picasso’s art became an expression of his character and his character an extension of his art. In pleasing textures of oil on canvas and warm hues, Porter’s accompanying illustrations quite nicely echo the art of its subject. (photos, chronology) (Biography. 8-11)
Pub Date: Nov. 30, 1999
ISBN: 1-57505-331-4
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Carolrhoda
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
With but a light sprinkling of names and dates, Myers condenses his Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary (1993) to picture- book length. Myers takes readers through his subject’s childhood and turbulent career, pausing for significant episodes (such as a white teacher’s suggestion that he’d be better off studying carpentry than law), supplying samples of his vivid rhetoric, and tracing his movement toward visions of a more inclusive, less violent revolution. Placing realistic portraits of X and other icons of the civil rights movement against swirling backdrops of faces and street scenes, Jenkins captures a sense of tumultuous times. What emerges most clearly is a portrait of a complex, compelling spokesman who was growing and changing up to the moment he was cut down. (Picture book/biography. 6-8)
Pub Date: Jan. 31, 2000
ISBN: 0-06-027707-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1999
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
