CHILDREN'S BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bearden, Romare. Li'l Dan, the Drummer Boy: A Civil War
Story. New
York: Simon & Schuster Children's Books, 2003. 32 pages. (CD
included.) Ages 4-10.
Li'l Dan, a slave on a Southern plantation, loves to
play his drum. When a company of Union soldiers announces that the slaves
have been set free, Dan has no place to go, so he follows the soldiers, who
make him their mascot. When Confederate soldiers attack, Dan discovers that
he is the only one who can save his friends.
The only children's book both written and illustrated by legendary American artist Romare Bearden, the manuscript for Li'l Dan, the Drummer Boy was discovered in 2002. Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. has written
a personal introduction to the book, describing his own memories of the artist
while Bearden created this tale. On an accompanying CD, Dr. Maya Angelou, three-time
Grammy Award winner for spoken word recordings, reads the text.
Brown, Kevin. Romare Bearden. New York: Chelsea
House Publishers, 1994. 124 pages. Ages 12 & up.
This compelling, chronological history of Romare
Bearden helps readers understand the universality of Bearden's
artwork. The full-color reproductions of his work give readers a good sense of the power of Bearden's inventive use of collage.
Greenberg, Jan. Romare Bearden:
Collage of Memories. New York: Harry
N. Abrams, Inc., 2003. 52 pages. Ages 6-12.
Award-winning author
Greenberg tells the intriguing story of the collagist who made visual jazz. This lavishly illustrated picture-book
biography reveals how Bearden blended fabric, photographs, colored papers,
and many other materials to expand the possibilities of collage and capture
the spirit of the artistic experience. Quilting bees, cotton pickers, revival meetings, city streets, and jazz musicians are all celebrated in these visionary collages.
Hartfield, Claire & Jerome Lagarrigue (illustrator). Me
and Uncle Romie: A Story Inspired by the Life and Art of Romare Bearden. New
York: Dial Books, 2002. 40 pages. Ages 5-9.
A boy from North Carolina spends
the summer in New York City visiting the neighborhood of Harlem, where
his uncle, collage artist Romare Bearden, grew up. A how-to section on
making storytelling collages and a short biography of Romare Bearden are
included.
Hughes, Langston & Romare Bearden (illustrator). The
Block. New York:
Viking Penguin, 1995. 32 pages. All Ages.
Sections of Bearden's six-panel
collage The Block, which is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum
of Art, have been coupled with thirteen poems by Langston Hughes. There's
no attempt to make literal connections, but together, words and pictures
express the vitality and excitement of an urban neighborhood.
Johnson, Herschel & Romare Bearden (illustrator). A
Visit to the Country. New
York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1989. 32 pages. Ages 3-8.
While
visiting his grandparents in the country, Mike finds an abandoned baby
bird, takes care of him until he learns how to fly, and makes an important
discovery about when to let go.
Schwartzman, Myron. Romare Bearden:
Celebrating the Victory. New York:
Franklin Watts, 1999. 144 pages. Ages 12 & up
In
this deeply personal biography, Schwartzman has drawn on his own conversations
with Romare Bearden to help us understand how Bearden was able to translate
his experiences as a twentieth-century African American into a body of
truly victorious art by tracing the fascinating life of this African-American
artist. In Harlem, Romare Beardenís studio was in the heart of one
of America's most vibrant artistic communities. He crossed paths with artists,
composers, and prominent jazz and blues musicians, who became his friends
and muses.
Shange, Ntozake & Romare Bearden (illustrator). I
Live in Music. Stewart, Tabori & Chang, Inc., 1994. 32 pages. All
Ages.
I Live in Music is a lyrical poem that celebrates the language of
music and the magical, often mystical, rhythms that connect human lives.
The poem is brought vividly to life through the paintings of one of America's
premier artists, Romare Bearden.