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Book Cover for: A Brush Full of Colour: The World of Ted Harrison, Margriet Ruurs

A Brush Full of Colour: The World of Ted Harrison

Margriet Ruurs

Now in an updated edition with revised back matter, the quintessential picture-book biography of Ted Harrison (1926-2015)

Ted Harrison's brightly coloured and wildly imaginative paintings set in the Yukon have become synonymous with the North. His instantly-recognizable images of the land of the midnight sun hang in galleries and private collections around the world. But how did a boy who grew up in a drab mining town in northeast England become one of Canada's most beloved and decorated artists?

A Brush Full of Colour is the story of a boy whose passion for learning would save him from a life in the coal mines. The books by the American writer Jack London and Canadian poet Robert Service fired his imagination with scenes of the wilderness and the Klondike Gold Rush. He trained as an artist, and a stint in the British Intelligence Service allowed him to travel. But Ted never stopped dreaming of the North, and when he saw an advertisement for teachers in Northern Alberta, he jumped at the chance to emigrate to Canada, where the biggest adventure of his life would begin.

Margriet Ruurs and Katherine Gibson trace the life of Ted Harrison and the influences that would lead to his unique style as an artist. Filled with full-color examples of his vivid art, and with a foreword written by Ted Harrison himself, this nonfiction picture book will provide inspiration for a new generation of budding artists.

Book Details

  • Publisher: Pajama Press
  • Publish Date: Aug 17th, 2021
  • Pages: 40
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 10.94in - 9.29in - 0.32in - 0.60lb
  • EAN: 9781772782264
  • Recommended age: 05-08
  • Categories: Biography & Autobiography - ArtHistory - Canada - Post-Confederation (1867-)Art - Painting

About the Author

Ruurs, Margriet: -

Margriet Ruurs is the award-winning author of forty books for children. Passionate about literacy, she writes children's and educational materials as well as book reviews. Margriet conducts author visits and writing workshops at international schools around the world and online. She has lived in the Yukon and in many other places, and now makes her home on Salt Spring Island in British Columbia.

Gibson, Katherine: -

Katherine Gibson is an award-winning and bestselling author whose work appears in several languages. Katherine spent four years researching the life and career of Ted Harrison, culminating in his biography, Ted Harrison: Painting Paradise. Although she writes about well-known subjects, some of the most fascinating are those Katherine penned as a ghost writer. She believes that every person has a story worth telling and that every life has a message for others.

Praise for this book

About A Brush Full of Colour

2016 Crystal Kite Award Winner

2015 Canadian Children's Literature Roundtables Information Book Award Winner

2016 Ontario Library Association Silver Birch Non-Fiction Award shortlist

2015 TD Canadian Children's Literature Award shortlist

2015 Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children's Book Awards shortlist

2016 Rocky Mountain Book Awards shortlist

2015 Hackmatack Children's Choice Award nominee

2015 Canadian Children's Book Centre Best Books for Kids & Teens Starred Selection

2014 Ontario Library Association Best Bets selection

2014 Resource Links The Year's Best selection

Seldom does an artist's biography for children offer so many beautiful reproductions of the subject's work. Pair this inviting book with Ashley Bryan: Words to My Life's Song (2009), another wonderfully visual celebration of an artist following his own path.--Booklist

An outstanding, well-organized biography...A joy to look at and an inspiration to read.--School Library Journal

A child-friendly introduction to an iconic, wonderfully accessible and quintessentially Canadian artist.--Kirkus Reviews

[A] must have...The text is easy to read, comprehensive, and interesting...[A] beautifully presented book...Highly recommended.--Resource Links

This outstanding biography does more than just inform the reader of Ted Harrison's life in a well organized way. A Brush Full of Colour is indicative of the spirit and passion of its subject...Highly Recommended.--CM Magazine

This inspirational and informative biography includes many stunning examples of Harrison's luminous artwork as well as resources, sources and a foreword written by the artist himself...--Canadian Children's Book News

[T]his book is virtually larger than life...A Brush Full of Colour is an exemplary youngCanLit biography.--CanLit for LittleCanadians