DAVE THE POTTER

BOOK REVIEW: PICTURE BOOK - DAVE THE POTTER

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Hill, Laban Carrick. 2010.  DAVE THE POTTER: ARTIST, POET, SLAVE. Ill. by Bryan Collier. New York: Little, Brown. ISBN 9780316107310

PLOT SUMMARY

Dave is a slave; he is a talented and visionary potter; he is also a writer. His story takes us through simple steps of creating clay pots during the 1800’s in the South. The author also shares some of Dave’s pottery poetry; very little of it still exists.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

The author uses imagery, hyperbole, symbolism, simile, and metaphor in his writing. Most of the imagery are pictures that children can conjure up: “gritty grains”, “clouds of dust”, “ropes of clay”; but there is also adult symbolism: “it was clay…he learned to form a life…”.  The simile used on the fold-out pages is especially poignant and graphic: “Like a magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat, Dave's hands, buried in the mounded mud, pulled out the shape of a jar.”

The painted illustrations create pictures of the time period and show-off different sizes and shapes of everyday clay pots.  The earth-tone hues of browns and greens for text background keep readers focused on the words and compliment the accompanying pictures. The blue and purple text backgrounds add a touch of colorful variety.  The fold-out page is a surprise and offers a nice uninterrupted look at forming a pot.

AWARDS
Caldecott 2011 Honors, Illustrator
Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award Winner

REVIEW EXCERPTS

The New York Times Book Review (Nov. 7, 2010):…” a difficult subject for a picture book… restrained and respectful treatment of the historical facts… a gentle way for adults to introduce slavery to young children… Much more stirring are the watercolor and collage illustrations”

The Horn Book Magazine (Mar.-Apr. 2011) : Caldecott Honor Books; 2011 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award

The Horn Book Guide (Spring 2011): The book's pacing is especially well conceived, the illustrations shown in tempo with the text's descriptions of throwing a pot.

Booklist (Nov. 1, 2010): “T he book's quiet dignity comes from its refusal to scrutinize life as a slave”

Kirkus Reviews (Aug. 15, 2010): “an accomplished, visually stunning homage to an important African-American artist”

CONNECTIONS

Todd, Leonard. CAROLINA CLAY: THE LIFE AND LEGEND OF THE SLAVE POTTER DAVE. ISBN 978-0-393-05856-7

RESEARCH ON SLAVE OPENS DOORWAY TO WRITER'S PAST  (Audio file, Broadcast transcript, Interview) found at

http://ezproxy.twu.edu:2126/ps/i.do?&id=GALE%7CA187787055&v=2.1&u=txshracd2583&it=r&p=LitRC&sw=w

AN EDUCATOR’S GUIDE TO DAVE http://www.digitaltraditions.net/html/D_Resources%20.cfm

ONLINE BIOGRAPHY OF DAVE www.usca.edu/aasc/davepotter.htm

WEBSITE OF DAVE BIOGRAPHER LEONARD TODD http://www.leonardtodd.com/