"She drew, she painted, she wove. She missed her mother so much, she sculpted giant spiders made of bronze, steel, and marble she named Maman. Her mother was not unlike a spider, a repairer of broken things.
If you bash into the web of a spider, she doesn't get mad. She weaves and repairs it."
Text © 2016 Amy Novesky * Illustration © 2016 Isabelle Arsenault
Louise Bourgeois with Spider IV 1996 (Detail). Portrait: © Peter Sumner Walton Bellamy/Art: © The Easton Foundation
Louise Bourgeois, Spider, 2003, steel and tapestry, 19x23x25; Photo: Christoper Burke, © The Easton Foundation
The Woven Life of Louise Bourgeois
Illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault * Abrams Books for Young Readers
*Winner of the Bologna Ragazzi Award for Art, 2017
*Brainpickings, The Best Children's Books of 2016
*SLJ/Elizabeth Bird's 100 Magnificent Children's Books, 2016
*SLJ/Elizabeth Bird's 2016 Calde-Nots
"If I could, I'd give Cloth Lullaby all the awards in the world."—Elizabeth Bird
*Seven foreign language editions to date
"One of the loveliest books I've encountered."—The New York Times
"Unbelievably beautiful and poetic."—Brain Pickings
"Novesky returns to territory in which she shines—picture-book biographies of influential and strong-willed female artists with this exquisite portrait of modern artist Louise Bourgeois. . . . [A] spare yet lilting narrative that leaves an arresting impression."—The Horn Book, starred review
"Splendid visual and verbal introduction to little-known Louise Bourgeois." —Kirkus, starred review
"With evocative, gorgeous illustrations and an inspirational story of an artist not often covered in children's literature, this arresting volume is an excellent addition to nonfiction picture book collections, particularly those lacking titles about women artists." —Booklist, starred review
"An inventive introduction to the work of a celebrated artist and a useful mentor text for exploring how language and imaginative, varied illustrations can work together to convey an idea." —School Library Journal
"Poetic and experimental, the text and art capture the delicate, powerful quality of Bourgeois's work across multiple media, as well as her ideas about order, symmetry, memory, and reparation." —Publishers Weekly
*A Junior Library Guild selection
*"How Children Change the Way We See"—The New Yorker
*Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
Text © 2016 Amy Novesky * Illustrations © 2016 Isabelle Arsenault
"And Georgia painted flowers!"
Text © 2012 Amy Novesky *Illustration © 2012 Yuyi Morales
Illustrated by David Diaz * Abrams Books for Young Readers
*Pura Belpre Honor Book
*FOCAL Award, Los Angeles Public Library
*Best Picture Book, International Latino Book Award
*Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC) Choices
*SCIBA Book Award Finalist, Children's Picture Book
*ALA Notable Book
*Me, Frida Portfolio, by David Diaz
"A lushly painted picture book about the artist Frida Kahlo during her time in San Francisco with her husband, Diego Rivera." —Booklist
"[Kahlo's] explorations of the city and surrounding area are lovingly detailed." —San Francisco Chronicle
Frida (Frieda) Kahlo. Frieda and Diego Rivera, 1931. Oil on canvas. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Albert M. Bender Collection. © Banco de Mexico Diego Rivera & Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, D.F. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
"And Georgia painted flowers!
Bird of paradise and philodendron, foot-long heliconia and fragrant plumeria, torch ginger and silver cup, lotus and hibiscus. She painted a nana honua that she'd picked by the side of the road. It reminded Georgia of her favorite desert flower, the jimsonweed."
Text © 2012 Amy Novesky * Illustration © 2012 Yuyi Morales
"And for one hour every afternoon, while the boys napped, Imogen focused on her flowers, including a common magnolia blossom she shot close up. . . .Then, under the soft glow of a red bulb, her five-year-old son beside her, Imogen watched as the images she'd captured--her boys, her blossoms--slowly emerged on paper. She knew she had something special.
Her magnolia, with its luminous petals and jeweled stamen, was magnificent."
Text © 2012 Amy Novesky * Illustration © 2012 Lisa Congdon
"In Kauai, her last stop, Georgia visited with local artists. She stayed at the seaside home of a former Hawaiian queen near Koloa, a small mill town surrounded by fields of wild sugar cane. Soon she was used to the scent of burning sugar in the air.
Georgia was even starting to look like an island girl."
Text © 2012 Amy Novesky * Illustration © 2012 Yuyi Morales
"Imogen was named after a princess in a Shakespeare play, but she didn't expect life to be smooth, easy and beautiful. . . .
But sometimes it was."
Text © 2012 Amy Novesky * Illustration © 2012 Lisa Congdon
Illustrated by Vanessa Newton * Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
“This introduction to the jazz great has tons of kid appeal." —School Library Journal
"True to Billie Holiday's life and music, the rhythmic free verse and bright pictures mix joy and melancholy in this picture-book introduction to the great blues singer, known as Lady Day." —Booklist
"Both text and art capture the sweet bond between Holiday and her beloved animals." —Publishers Weekly
"By highlighting Lady Day's affectionate relationship with Mister, Novesky and Newton invite readers to admire the illustrious singer in a sparkling new light." —Kirkus
"Both the dramatic farewell and the blissful reunion, as Mister greets Holiday on the train platform upon her return, capture with elegant simplicity the heart of the story — the deep, unconditional love between Lady Day and Mister." —Brain Pickings
Review and Teacher's Guide by Alisha White
Photo © William P. Gottlieb
"She took a ferry across the Golden Gate and walked in the green headlands above the blue ocean. From there, she could see the entire glittering city and all it held, including Diego. It was small enough to fit on the wing of a bird.
For once, Frida felt larger than life. Me, Frida!
She felt like she could fly."
Text © 2010 Amy Novesky * Illustration © 2010 David Diaz
Illustrated by Belgin K. Wedman * Insight Editions
"There she offered the sacred river a gift of one hundred glowing candles and thousands of flowers.
One year later, Parvati found a beautiful boy lying in her bed as if he'd always been there. His face was round and bright as the moon. Parvati lifted him high into the air. She loved him instantly."
Text © 2004 Amy Novesky * Illustration © 2004 Belgin K. Wedman
Illustrated by Yuyi Morales * Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
*Boston Globe/Horn Book Award, Honor Book
*Best Children's Books of 2012, Kirkus Reviews
*A Junior Library Guild Selection
*Star of the North Book Award Nominee
"A rich and unexpected depiction of a treasured artist." —Publishers Weekly, starred review
"[A] lush, carefully researched book. Cool, green rainforest settings contrast with brilliant, fuchsia skies in which the protagonist is framed by larger-than-life philodendron, hibiscus, and plumeria." —School Library Journal
"An appealing and slightly humorous portrayal of O'Keeffe's artistic vision and determination, along with a peek at the Hawaii of over a century ago. Accessible, unfussy and visually charming." —Kirkus
Illustrated by Lisa Congdon * Cameron + Company
"Striking a tone of quiet intimacy, Novesky follows Georgia in Hawaii and Me, Frida with another tribute to a female 20th century artist." —Publishers Weekly
"Novesky has a special knack for conveying an artist's life and craft in simple prose; through spare text she captures how Cunningham 'found a little beauty in everything.'" —The Horn Book
Self-Portrait with My Children, early 1920s © Imogen Cunningham Trust 2012
"That night, Frida painted something great: a colorful wedding portrait of herself and Diego. She painted Diego big, and she painted herself small, just as the world saw them.
But Frida knew she was more than this. And she put herself first. In the beak of a pink bird, she wrote a tiny note on violet ribbon: 'Here you see us, me, Frida Kahlo, with my adored husband Diego Rivera. I painted these portraits in the beautiful city of San Francisco, California, in April of 1931.'"
Text © 2010 Amy Novesky * Illustration © 2010 David Diaz
"On the night of the big show, the concert hall glowed. At midnight the houselights dimmed and a spotlight as full as the moon appeared.
As the band's notes began, Lady lifted her chin. And when the great Billie Holiday sang . . .everyone and a dog held their breath and listened.
'And I'm thinking, if you were mine, I'd never let you go.'"
Text © 2013 Amy Novesky * Illustration © 2013 Vanessa Newton
illustrated by Sara Gillingham * Cameron Kids
"Love is a string quartet. Love is a pirouette. A two-tiered tutu! A coup-de-coeur, you bet. Love is a pas-de-deus, the sweetest dance of all..."
*Society of Illustrators, The Original Art Exhibit, 2016
Text © 2016 Amy Novesky * Illustrations © 2016 Sara Gillingham
illustrated by Sara Gillingham * Cameron Kids
"Love is a dump truck rounded with dirt. A bulldozer, a digger, a rolling cement mixer. Love is a loader. Love is a lifter. A truck on a truck! A flatbed trailer. Love is an ice cream truck, the sweetest truck of all...."
*SLJ/Elizabeth Bird's 100 Magnificent Children's Books, 2016
*SLJ/Elizabeth Bird's 2016 Calde-Nots/Great Board Books
"Love IS a truck...And this book is right on the money."—Elizabeth Bird, Fuse 8 Production
"This honey of a title conveys the simple joy of creative play." —School Library Journal, Starred review
Text © 2016 Amy Novesky * Illustrations © 2016 Sara Gillingham
