#11: "Show Way" by Jacqueline Woodson
Mar. 30th, 2009 07:03 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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50books_pocShow Way by Jacqueline Woodson (Putnam, 1995)
I know there are historical questions about the validity or otherwise of the "Underground Railroad Quilt Code". But questions or not, this book tells a story that has clearly been handed down, generation to generation, mother to daughter and on again, through Jacqueline Woodson's family. Thus it is truth to that family, as much as any other truth.
The illustrations are beautiful, and so carefully thought out. A marvellous combination of paper drawings and fabric art: on at least two spreads combined in patchwork layouts. As you can tell from this, it's yet another book that uses my current favourite art form - collage: the needles and thread stuck in a piece of muslin on the first spread was the first of many highlights of the illustration for me. (Other books where similar artwork has recently impressed me include Memorial and The Lighthouse Girl.)
The absolute highlight art-wise is the Civil War spread: the fabric, marked with the borders of the states, ripped across at the Mason-Dixon line to show red fabic beneath the blue and gray.
Story-wise, I think it was the twins with their Show Way patches pinned to their dresses during the Civil Rights marches, keeping Fear at bay.
I actually found it difficult to classify this book: initially I had it in "fiction" because that's where "picture books" go in my head. But this is part of the development of the "genre": picture books aren't always fiction; nor are they always for children (See the furore over Requiem for a Beast and the CBA last year).
In general, I have so much love for this book. It's absolutely beautiful, and shows such depth of pride in Woodson's history. Hudson Talbott's illustrations are completely marvellous; and I really need to start hunting down my own copy.
I know there are historical questions about the validity or otherwise of the "Underground Railroad Quilt Code". But questions or not, this book tells a story that has clearly been handed down, generation to generation, mother to daughter and on again, through Jacqueline Woodson's family. Thus it is truth to that family, as much as any other truth.
The illustrations are beautiful, and so carefully thought out. A marvellous combination of paper drawings and fabric art: on at least two spreads combined in patchwork layouts. As you can tell from this, it's yet another book that uses my current favourite art form - collage: the needles and thread stuck in a piece of muslin on the first spread was the first of many highlights of the illustration for me. (Other books where similar artwork has recently impressed me include Memorial and The Lighthouse Girl.)
The absolute highlight art-wise is the Civil War spread: the fabric, marked with the borders of the states, ripped across at the Mason-Dixon line to show red fabic beneath the blue and gray.
Story-wise, I think it was the twins with their Show Way patches pinned to their dresses during the Civil Rights marches, keeping Fear at bay.
I actually found it difficult to classify this book: initially I had it in "fiction" because that's where "picture books" go in my head. But this is part of the development of the "genre": picture books aren't always fiction; nor are they always for children (See the furore over Requiem for a Beast and the CBA last year).
In general, I have so much love for this book. It's absolutely beautiful, and shows such depth of pride in Woodson's history. Hudson Talbott's illustrations are completely marvellous; and I really need to start hunting down my own copy.
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