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THE ARTS
Ho, Joanna

On the Tip of a Wave: How Ai Weiwei's Art Is Changing the Tide

48 pp. | Scholastic/Orchard | October, 2023 | Trade ISBN 9781338715941 $18.99 | Ebook ISBN 9781338891225 $11.99
(2) K-3 Illustrated by Cátia Chien. In this powerful picture book, readers learn about artist/activist/filmmaker Ai Weiwei, the worldwide refugee crisis, and the effects art can have in shining a light on humanitarian issues. Readers meet Ai Weiwei in contemporary times as he helps a large group of newly arrived refugees in boats landing on a Greek beach. Flashing back, the text relates that his own tumultuous childhood in a 1960s Chinese labor camp was when he started making art using ordinary objects. The book's main focus is on his notable protest artwork, visually referenced on the pages; the story concludes by returning to the plight of current-day "wave riders." Ho's vivid, expressive prose and Chien's bright orange and blue impressionistic pencil and pastel drawings--incorporating waves, life jackets, and documentary photographs--inspire empathy for the refugees, many of whom are young children or families. More straightforward biographical details appear in the back matter; and Ho writes that Ai Weiwei's "art and activism call on us, the citizens of the world, to lift each other up." This book is a good companion read for Ho's Playing at the Border (rev. 9/21) and Gravel's What Is a Refugee?
Reviewer: Michelle Lee | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2023

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