ACCESS DIGITIZED EDITION
Guide/Reviews Database
THE ARTS
Burgess, Matthew

Drawing on Walls: A Story of Keith Haring

64 pp. | Enchanted Lion | May, 2020 | Trade ISBN 978-1-59270-267-1 $18.95
(2) K-3 Illustrated by Josh Cochran. Two colorful picture-book biographies celebrate the life and art of Keith Haring. In Drawing on Walls, much of the focus is on Haring's art-making as a child and the connection he felt with children throughout his career. Art Is Life is more concerned with his inspiration and process, focusing on a few of the artists who influenced him and the effect he had on New York City's creative scene. Burgess includes more biographical information in his longer text, while Brown favors a shorter and more lyrical style that conveys the feeling of Haring's work rather than details of his life. Negley's mixed-media approach is more graphic, while Cochran uses a childlike cartoonish scrawl, but both illustrators emulate the energy of ­Haring's style in dynamic spreads with bold colors and lines. Both include additional biographical information, with Brown's author's note filling in much of the detail of Haring's life. The illustrators' notes discuss Haring's outsized influence, with both illustrators describing very personal connections to his work. These two books complement each other, with Burgess's the more traditional picture-book biography and Brown's perhaps better suited as a first introduction to Haring or an energetic read-aloud. Review covers these titles: Art Is Life and Drawing on Walls.
Reviewer: Lauren Kim | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2021

RELATED 

THE ARTS

The People's Painter
by Levinson, Cynthia
THE ARTS

Before They Were Artists
by Haidle, Elizabeth
THE ARTS

Breaking Waves
by Burleigh, Robert
THE ARTS

Fearless World Traveler
by Lawlor, Laurie
THE ARTS

The History of Western Art in Comics
by Augustin, Marion
More

Get connected. Join our global community of more than 200,000 librarians and educators.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

We are currently offering this content for free. Sign up now to activate your personal profile, where you can save articles for future viewing.

ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER?