Edward Hopper Paints His World

by Robert Burleigh, Wendell Minor (Illustrator)

Overview

As a boy, Edward Hopper knew exactly what he wanted to be when he grew up: on the cover of his pencil box, he wrote the words EDWARD HOPPER, WOULD-BE ARTIST. He traveled to New York and to Paris to hone his craft. And even though no one wanted to buy his paintings for a long time, he never stopped believing in his dream to be an artist. He was fascinated with painting light and shadow and his works explore this challenge.

Edward Hopper's story is one of courage, resilience, and determination. In this striking picture book biography, Robert Burleigh and Wendell Minor invite young readers into the world of a truly special American painter (most celebrated for his paintings "Nighthawks" and "Gas").

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781466874213
Publisher:	Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Publication date:	08/19/2014
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	40
File size:	65 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	5 - 9 Years

About the Author

Robert Burleigh has written many acclaimed children's picture books, including several illustrated by Wendell Minor, including Abraham Lincoln Comes Home and If You Spent a Day with Thoreau at Walden Pond. Bob splits his time between Grand Haven, Michigan, and Chicago.

Wendell Minor is the illustrator of many award-winning picture books for children, including the New York Times–bestselling Reaching for the Moon. He lives in Washington, Connecticut.

Editorial Reviews

…Burleigh makes the shy painter understandable to any child with a serious, solitary passion…Minor's illustrations capture the profoundly wistful essence of both Hopper himself and his most famous paintings.

The New York Times Book Review - Maria Russo

★ 05/12/2014
Burleigh and Minor (Abraham Lincoln Comes Home) pair up for another terrific profile of a famous American, this time artist Edward Hopper. Minor’s gouache watercolors (stunning works of art in their own right) echo Hopper’s evocative realism and clean lines. Full-color spreads and sketched b&w vignettes portray the artist from his youth to his old age, observing and painting his surroundings. From the boyhood room in which Hopper paints a lone sailboat on the Hudson River to the country gas station he captures at dusk in his famous painting, Gas, the illustrations convey the solitary tone of Hopper’s work. In many scenes, readers peer over Hopper’s shoulder as he works, seeing what he sees. The accessible narrative then invites the audience to think more critically about the context in which Hopper created. “Many houses in his paintings seem moody, quiet, and alone. Were Edward’s houses a bit like Edward himself?” A few of Hopper’s quotations about art are included in an afterword, along with reproductions of several well-known paintings. Sources, a bibliography, and an artist’s note wrap up this remarkable picture-book biography. Ages 5–9. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

In a narrative as calmly straightforward as Hopper's work, Burleigh introduces the great American realist.” —The Horn Book

“Hopper was one of the foremost American painters of the 20th century, and this wonderfully illustrated book provides a detailed biographical portrait of him. Minor's art, lush and perfectly varied with pencil sketches interspersed between colorful paintings, is accompanied by Burleigh's compelling text.” —School Library Journal

“Full-page paintings reminiscent of Hopper originals accompany the straightforward text of this picture book biography from the team behind Night Flight . . . A lovely, quiet introduction to a luminary among American painters.” —Booklist

“*Two masters of illustrated, brief biographies for young people reunite . . . an enduring and inspiring book that will help kids to understand the why and how of an artist at work.” —Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW

“In many scenes, readers peer over Hopper's shoulder as he works, seeing what he sees. The accessible narrative then invites the audience to think more critically about the context in which Hopper created.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Minor's sweet, verdant watercolors shine.” —The Boston Globe on If You Spent a Day with Thoreau at Walden Pond

“Offers a glimpse of Thoreau's philosophy that young children can understand.” —School Library Journal on If You Spent a Day with Thoreau at Walden Pond

“A fine introduction to the value of Thoreau and the natural world.” —Kirkus Reviews on If You Spent a Day with Thoreau at Walden Pond

“Poignantly imagines a father and son paying their respects on the prairie.” —USA Today on Abraham Lincoln Comes Home

“Moving prose and dramatic night scenes show them as part of a grieving yet grateful nation, paying homage to a fallen hero.” —San Francisco Chronicle on Abraham Lincoln Comes Home

“This quiet, lovely book sensitively communicates a sense of the magnitude of loss felt by so many.” —Kirkus Reviews on Abraham Lincoln Comes Home

From the Publisher

07/01/2014
Gr 2–5—Hopper was one of the foremost American painters of the 20th century, and this wonderfully illustrated book provides a detailed biographical portrait of him. Minor's art, lush and perfectly varied with pencil sketches interspersed between colorful paintings, is accompanied by Burleigh's compelling text, which traces the artist's childhood in Nyack, NY, to his studies in Manhattan and Paris to his married life in New York City and Cape Cod, MA. Minor has reenvisioned many of Hopper's well-known works, placing Hopper in the picture, depicting the artisit as he surveys the scenes that inspired his paintings. Though Minor's interpretations are brighter, he hints at the dark and foreboding qualities for which Hopper was famous; Hopper's compositions are sad and lonely, leaving viewers to ponder the mysterious narrative. One might assume that Hopper's work was a mirror of his personal life. As the title states, he painted world as he saw it, yet in actuality his world and personal life was rather typical. Burleigh and Minor touch on this in the afterword, but they don't specifically address the contradiction between the darkness of his work and his seemingly normal personal life, which leaves a ripe subject for discussion among teachers and librarians and their creative readers. Additional back matter includes quotes about art from Hopper, miniature reproductions of four of Hopper's most famous works with discussion prompts, important dates, and a note on the illustrations from Minor.—Billy Parrott, New York Public Library

School Library Journal

★ 2014-05-28
Two masters of illustrated, brief biographies for young people reunite (If You Spent a Day with Thoreau at Walden Pond, 2012) for this accessible introduction to an iconic 20th-century American realist.Their careful, almost developmental approach quickly transcends the provision of objective biographical facts (though they are all there in abundance) by first presenting Hopper’s childhood pencil case—inscribed “Edward Hopper Would be Artist”: five words that summarize a life story. It is evident that Burleigh and Minor are determined that readers both understand and see “the artist’s process of discovery.” Their decision to avoid reproductions of Hopper’s work throughoutreflects the essential understanding that Hopper’s own paintings were never exact representations of a specific place at a specific time. Minor helps readers acquire both the sense and the sensibility of a Hopper work via his own charcoal-and-pencil studies of the paintings under consideration in Burleigh’s thoughtful text. In this wonderfully illuminating way, they both help readers comprehend Hopper from the inside out: from the actual motifs, to the edited and combined studies, to the familiar, finished and admired paintings on the museum walls. Backmatter is particularly well-organized and inclusive.Well-researched and carefully paced, this is an enduring and inspiring book that will help kids to understand the why and the how of an artist at work. (Picture book/biography. 5-9)

Kirkus Reviews