This lushly illustrated picture book recounts an episode in Georgia O'Keeffe's life that offers young readers insight into the painter's artistic style and her values.
In February 1939, O'Keeffe arrived in Hawaii at the request of the Hawaiian Pineapple Company (later known as Dole), which commissioned two paintings to advertise their pineapple juice. She wanted to stay near the pineapple fields, to observe "the sharp and silvery fruit, quite strange and beautiful." But the company said only the workers could stay there, and gave her a pineapple to paint that had already been picked. Yuyi Morales (My Abuelita) portrays O'Keeffe's defiant stance at this response, then fills the pages with images of what she painted instead: mountains and volcanoes, feathered fishhooks and flowers. One image depicts O'Keeffe wreathed by birds of paradise, "foot-long heliconia" and nana honua, which also grace the endpapers so readers can identify the flowers. Novesky's (Elephant Prince) description of Hawaii appeals to all five senses, through "the scent of burning sugar" in the mill town of Koloa, and the feel of rain on the artist's skin in Maui.
The author convincingly describes O'Keeffe's change of heart toward the pineapple company: "She thought about Hawaii and all that it had given her. She decided to give the company what they wanted." We also see, however, that she paints the pineapple in her own way. Morales imagines the painting's beginnings as a white-hot sun, with green spikes spreading out like rays, as the pineapple bud symbolizes a luminous gift that sent O'Keeffe on a journey to discover an enchanted cluster of islands. This snapshot of Keeffe's spirit and artistry is sure to send many children off to discover more about her life and work. --Jennifer M. Brown, children's editor, Shelf Awareness