For 2011:
Words to My Life’s Song by Ashley Bryan
Published by Atheneum
This unique and breathtaking book takes readers on a journey through Ashley Bryan’s life as an artist, author, collector of folk songs and stories, brother, son, teacher, uncle, friend, and American.
The book is a collage of Ashley’s experiences—from the Bronx, to Antigua, to Maine, to Germany, to West Africa. Examples of Mr. Bryan’s art in different mediums (stained glass, found-object sculptures, paper-cuts, paintings, puppets, illustrations) abound in these pages. It’s the never-say-never story of Mr. Bryan’s extraordinary past and present.
As a child during the Great Depression, as a young soldier in the segregated Army on the beaches of Normandy, as a visionary art student who was first accepted to school then turned away upon arrival because of his race (he was told that to give a scholarship to an African-American “would be a waste”), Ashley Bryan painted, laughed, loved, wrote, and triumphed. Where he could have been discouraged and defeated, he was not. His story is a testament to believing in oneself and following one’s passion—no matter what or who stands in your way. In Words to My Life’s Song, Mr. Bryan recreates his life story in image and prose. The result is a profound and powerful lesson in surviving difficulties, finding self-fulfillment, and sharing joy with others.
The NCV Foundation selects Words to My Life’s Song for the 2011 Storylines Award. The book and Mr. Bryan’s life are inextricable, and we are proud to honor both the man and his work. Mr. Bryan’s deep appreciation for the natural world, his celebration of community and other cultures, his love of folk literature and song, his openness to all forms of artistic expression, his delight in learning and in passing on his craft is inspirational and life-affirming. Thank you, Ashley Bryan, for your incomparable art, generous spirit, and boundless joy.
Ashley Bryan is the Storylines Award recipient and student submission judge for 2011.
Born in Harlem to Antiguan immigrant parents and raised in the Bronx, Ashley Bryan has been enriching the planet for almost nine decades. Renowned for the extraordinary range of his talent and frequently described as “a national treasure,” Mr. Bryan is an artist, writer, anthologist, storyteller, performer, and noted scholar of African and African-American folklore. His numerous awards and honors include three Coretta Scott King Awards for Illustration, six Coretta Scott King Honors, the Arbuthnot Prize, the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal, a Golden Kite Award, and a Fulbright Scholarship. His poetry and paintings continue to influence whole generations of children and adults.
Bryan’s story is one of courage. His thirty plus published books exude love; they are warm, colorful, and bursting with song. After graduating from high school at age sixteen, Bryan applied to a prominent art institution, and upon being denied a scholarship he had rightfully won, he was accepted to New York’s prestigious Cooper Union Art School. After two years at Cooper Union, Ashley was drafted into the army and served in World War II. At the age of nineteen, as a member of the fleet that sailed to Normandy for the surprise invasion, Bryan drew whenever he could, keeping a sketch pad and art supplies in his gas mask. After the war, Bryan went on to study philosophy at Columbia University, earn a Fulbright scholarship to study art in Europe, and become the head of the art department at Dartmouth College. He was the first African-American to publish a children’s book as an author and illustrator (in 1962). He currently lives on Little Cranberry Island off the coast of Maine. His art studio, often open to visitors, is filled with toys, paintings, illustrations, and handmade puppets.
“Be strongly rooted in who you are—your people and what they have had to offer—then reach out and draw upon the gifts of other peoples of the world.” ~Ashley Bryan
“I never gave up. Many were more gifted than I but they gave up. They dropped out. What they faced out there in the world—they gave up.” ~Ashley Bryan
“Tap into the love for what you are doing and the encouragement you will get from doing it well.” ~Ashley Bryan
“I’m always very moved by [my readers’] responses to my work…How my work has inspired the creative activities and lives of others. That may be true of all writers and illustrators. We do our work and we are trying to give the best that we can, but when we see that others have picked up from what we are doing and found ways of expressing themselves, that makes it especially exciting.” ~Ashley Bryan
“There are so many ways in which we learn about life and the self. Each day opens paths to this exploration. For many of us, books play a major role in that adventure.” ~Ashley Bryan
CLICK HERE FOR ARCHIVE: 2010 Naomi Shihab Nye
2009 Silas House
