THE WIRE ZOO

How sculptor Elizabeth Berrien became “Godmother of Wire.”

Elizabeth loved animals but could never draw them as she saw them: composed of graceful lines. With her right hand, she could draw only scribbles. When she knitted using both hands, however, “her brain began rewiring her eyes and hands to work together.” But Elizabeth, who’d been taught to use her right hand despite being left-handed, couldn’t master drawing, and her high school art teacher’s dismissal of her “sloppy work” nearly convinced her to give up art altogether. Fortunately, another teacher, Mr. Curran, encouraged creative problem-solving, renewing her enthusiasm. When he gave her a roll of wire, Elizabeth’s hands could finally express “the beauty she’d seen all her life.” With practice, she figured out how to shape wire into animals, which earned her acclaim as a “true wire sculptor” and led to her biggest challenge: creating a life-size winged horse exhibit. Working through pain and fear of failure, Elizabeth triumphed. Invited to be an animal park’s resident artist, Elizabeth realized that, with her sculptures, she was at last sharing the animals’ “energy lines, their life forces,” with the world. Though somewhat static, Stone’s soft-edged illustrations clearly convey Elizabeth’s emotions, and the artist’s struggles to conform to right-handed drawing will resonate with readers who move, think, and learn in ways that differ from expectations. Backmatter includes further biographical details and color photos of Berrien’s work. Elizabeth presents white; background characters are racially diverse.

An encouraging celebration of persistence and self-expression.