(2) K-3 Illustrated by Shelley Couvillion. Dale Chihuly (b. 1941) was drawn to light, color, and glass from an early age. As a young man, a formative trip to Europe and Israel sparked his interest in glassblowing as an art form. When he returned home, he enrolled in a newly established studio program and perfected his craft among a community of artisans before returning to Venice to learn from the very best. Glassblowing quickly became his life, and when he came back to the U.S., he formed his own distinguished school in the Pacific Northwest and developed his signature style. Not even a devastating car accident -- which required 256 stitches and left him blind in one eye -- could stop him, and after fifty years he remains the preeminent American artist in this medium. Mentyka incorporates an overview of the glassblowing process in her narrative, and Couvillion complements the text with a series of striking illustrations, mostly in double-page spreads, and some detailed depictions of Chihuly's more fanciful creations in the culminating pages. For another biographical treatment for a slightly older audience, check out Greenberg and Jordan's World of Glass (rev. 7/20). Notes, a glossary, and a timeline are appended.

Reviewer: Jonathan Hunt | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2025