Ashley Bryan,
Ashley Bryan: Words to My Life's Song
Antheneum, 2009.

9+

Illustrator and author Ashley Bryan’s captivating look at his life and career feels intimate and immediate in a volume presented as if the reader were accompanying Bryan on a walk around the Maine Island where he lives. On that walk, Bryan begins by discussing his childhood and early interest in art (“I cannot remember a time when I have not been drawing and painting.”), but he covers many other subjects as the “visit” continues, from his education as an artist, including both informal and formal training, to the importance of family and community, and the changing communities of which he has been a part throughout his life. And of course he talks about some of the many extraordinary books that have defined his singular career. Inviting readers into his studio, he also offers a glimpse at some of the remarkable work he’s done outside the book arts, from puppets and toys made from other people’s cast-offs to panels of sea glass illustrating scenes from the Bible. This warm, visually dynamic volume will no doubt inspire many to partake of Bryan’s hospitality over and over again.

Megan Schliesman
May 2009