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Book Cover for: Words to My Life's Song, Ashley Bryan

Words to My Life's Song

Ashley Bryan

Winner:Golden Kite -Nonfiction (2010)
Gold Medal Winner:Parents Choice Awards (Spring) (2008-Up) -Nonfiction (2009)
Ashley's autobiography is full of art, photographs, and the poignant never-say-never tale of his rich life, a life that has always included drawing and painting. Even as a boy growing up during the Depression, he painted -- finding cast off objects to turn into books and kites and toy and art. Even as a solder in the segregated Army on the beaches of Normandy, he sketched -- keeping charcoal crayons and paper in his gasmask to draw with during lulls. Even as a talented, visionary art student who was accepted and then turned away from college upon arrival, the school telling Ashley that to give a scholarship to an African American student would be a waste, he painted -- continuing to create art when he could have been discouraged, continuing to polish his talents when his spirit should have been beaten. Ashley went on to become a Hans Christian Anderson Award nominee, a May Hill Arbuthnot lecturer, and a multiple Coretta Scott King award winner. As you might imagine, his story is powerful, bursting with his creative energy, and a testament to believing in oneself. It's a book every child in America should have access to and it does what the very best autobiographies do; it inspires!

Book Details

  • Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
  • Publish Date: Jan 6th, 2009
  • Pages: 64
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 9.30in - 10.21in - 0.62in - 1.24lb
  • EAN: 9781416905417
  • Recommended age: 07-10
  • Categories: Biography & Autobiography - ArtBiography & Autobiography - Cultural & RegionalBiography & Autobiography - Historical

About the Author

Bryan, Ashley: - Ashley Bryan (1923-2022) grew up to the sound of his mother singing from morning to night, and he shared the joy of song with children. A beloved illustrator, he was named a Newbery Honoree for his picture book, Freedom Over Me. He also received the Coretta Scott King--Virginia Hamilton Lifetime Achievement Award, the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, was a May Hill Arbuthnot lecturer, a Coretta Scott King Award winner, and the recipient of countless other awards and recognitions. His books include Freedom Over Me; Sail Away; Beautiful Blackbird; Beat the Story-Drum, Pum Pum; Let It Shine; Ashley Bryan's Book of Puppets; and What a Wonderful World. He lived in Islesford, one of the Cranberry Isles off the coast of Maine.