Anchoring this post in Covid19: beginning 10th week in Safe-at-Home time.

Since the happy news that my public library is now allowing active hold requests with safe curbside pick-ups, I'm elbow-deep in titles I've been seeking for several months. My challenge is to approach each remarkable picture book on its own, resisting the temptation to plow through the stack and write multi-title posts. So far, the books I've read (and read again) each deserve their own attention and praise. 
So, I may be posting here a bit more frequently than is typical until I get caught up. 
I hope you don't mind!

HarperCollins, October, 2019

I adore outstanding picture book biographies, stories revealing hidden history or seldom-told stories, especially revelations that celebrate the successes of underrepresented individuals. 
BAM!
IT BEGAN WITH A PAGE: How Gyo Fujikawa Drew the Way, written and illustrated by Kyo Maclear, is an absolute winner on all counts. I'm
excited to share the book itself and the accomplishments of the incredible artist Gyo Fujikawa with any and all who will listen. 
Her childhood story is especially appealing to me. I was an eavesdropping child, too, and an early feminist. In this case I wish I had the artist's talent, but I didn't endure her frequent encounters with racism and exclusion throughout life. 
Her successful college admission and development of her talent as the only woman in her art classes were impressive. Those accomplishments fed her determination, steeling her spine but not resulting in bitterness. 
The story reveals the impact of Japanese internment on her family, and limitations on her own choices while living on the East Coast during WWII. It isn't often that a picture book, even a biography, portrays a character struggling to overcome depression/malaise, but this one treats it with balance and eventual hope.

Despite her extensive success in art, illustration, and design, Fujikawa noted the utter lack of diversity within the pages of picture books in mid-century America.Though publishers initially rebuked her effort to show the diverse and universal qualities of "BABIES", she held firm: "We need to BREAK the rules". 

I loved the information in back matter. Among many impressive accomplishments in her creative life, her insistence on diverse representation in picture books parallels that of groundbreaking Ezra Jack Keats (Snowy Day) in changing the existing standards within the publishing business. She was adamant about providing families and children an authentic and playful look at themselves on the page.
There are many ways she carried her innovative thinking and independence into her profession for the good of other women, other artists and illustrators, and creators in general. She was never bound by the status quo.

The illustrations by Kyo Maclear reflect Fujikawa's sure but light hand, artistic style, graceful line quality, color, movement, and page awareness. 

Image from IT BEGAN WITH A PAGE: How Gyo Fujikawa Drew the Way (HarperCollins, 2019)

It's my hope that you will have a chance to examine this book for yourself, sooner rather than later. 

With this extensive time at home, even after things gradually reopen, many opportunities for kids to explore their own artistic interests are readily available. Click on the names that follow for YouTube tutorials that are both instructive and entertaining. Getting tips from the creators they admire will build confidence and enthusiasm. It just might lead us to the next Gyo, 
Mo Willems, Jeff Kinney (Wimpy Kid),  Jarrett Krosoczka (Lunch Lady series),and many more.