The story of New York City artist Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) is sure to inspire young artists to follow their passion and, perhaps, color outside the lines. Javaka Steptoe's (In Daddy's Arms I Am Tall) vibrant, gorgeous picture-book biography Radiant Child is a labor of love.
"Somewhere in Brooklyn, between hearts/ that thump, double Dutch, and hopscotch/ and salty mouths that slurp sweet ice,/ a little boy dreams of being a famous ARTIST." So begins this lyrical, crying-to-be-read-aloud narrative, illustrated with Steptoe's richly textured, boldly colorful, Basquiat-inspired collage-style paintings that literally incorporate "bits of New York City," as they're painted on the wood scraps he found in discarded Brooklyn Museum exhibit materials and in brownstone Dumpsters.
Steptoe tells his story in the present tense, giving it a disarming immediacy. It's as if readers are right there, peering in at young Basquiat as he paints on the floor, while his Haitian-born father plays jazz and his Puerto Rican Mama Matilde "cooks arroz con pollo/ and calls Jean-Michel 'MI AMOR.' " Basquiat's mother, who encourages her son's obvious talent, breaks his heart when she becomes mentally ill: "He tries drawing the terrible out of his blues, but things are not the same." When he moves to the Lower East Side at 17, he starts spray-painting his poems and gloriously messy, often political artwork on walls. Basquiat gets attention, charms crowds and rapidly becomes the famous artist he knew he'd be even when he was "RADIANT, WILD, A GENIUS CHILD." The fascinating author notes fill in even more of Basquiat's story that ended too soon. A star and a crown for this one. --Karin Snelson, children's & YA editor, Shelf Awareness