Words to My Life's Song

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!

Author: Ashley Bryan
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Published: 01/06/2009
Pages: 64
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.24lbs
Size: 9.30h x 10.21w x 0.62d
ISBN: 9781416905417

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 6.2
Point Value: 1
Interest Level: Middle Grade
Quiz #/Name: 128883 / Ashley Bryan: Words to My Life's Song

Award: Parents Choice Awards (Spring) (2008-Up) - Gold Medal Winner
Award: Golden Kite - Winner

Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Review - Children 12/01/2008 pg. 1254
Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks 01/01/2009
Kirkus Reviews 12/01/2008
Booklist 12/15/2008 pg. 50
Horn Book Magazine 01/01/2009 pg. 109
Publishers Weekly 01/12/2009 pg. 49
School Library Journal 02/01/2009 pg. 115
Multicultural Review 07/01/2009 pg. 78
ALA Notable Children's Books 03/01/2010 pg. 28
Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/2009 - Recommended, Satisfactory

About the Author
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.