Tuesday, November 1, 2016

PICTURE BOOK - Dorothea's Eyes by Barb Rosenstock

Illustrated by Gerard DuBois
2016 Calkins Creed, Honesdale, PA (an Imprint of Highlights)
HC $16.99
32 pgs.
Goodreads rating:  4.11 - 167 ratings
My rating:  4
Endpapers:  large dotted background with the same camera-on-legs repeated over and over
Dedications:  "For my grandfather - BR"
     "For my sister, with love - GD"

1st line/s:  "Dorothea opens her grey-green eyes.  They are special eyes.  They see what others miss."


My comments:  Nice introduction for kids of the life of Dorothea Lange - what drove her and the type of photos she took.  It touches upon the developing of them, but I wish this had been mentioned, and explained, a bit more to help inform our kids in this digital age.  Although prone to sickness and always dealing with the polio she endured as a child, she is an active photographer in the streets and fields of the Depression.  At the end of the book there is a sampling of six of her photos - including "Migrant Mother."  An afterword, selected bibliography and two-page timeline are added touches at the end of the book.  A great model for researching and teaching.

Goodreads:  After a childhood bout of polio left her with a limp, all Dorothea Lange wanted to do was disappear. But this desire not to be seen helped her learn how to blend into the background and observe others acutely. With a passion for the artistic life, and in spite of her family’s disapproval, Dorothea pursued her dream to become a photographer and focused her lens on the previously unseen victims of the Great Depression. This poetic biography tells the emotional story of Lange’s evolution as one of the founders of documentary photography. It includes a gallery of Lange’s photographs, and an author’s note, timeline, and bibliography.

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