 This beautiful, well-researched book tells the story of modern Indian artist Amrita Sher-Gil’s short, but fascinating life. She was born in Hungary in 1913. Her mother was a Hungarian pianist and her father was an Indian Sikh. Amrita was raised in Hungary and trained in France. She was inspired by writers, musicians, artists, and the time she lived – world wars, the Indian freedom movement, and major changes in the art world. The set-up of the book is amazing. The text that tells Amrita’s story is woven around pictures and boxes of information. Political events and artistic movements that shaped her life are found in other boxes. Real photographs, sometimes taken by her father, are included in the margins, and reproductions of Amrita’s gorgeous paintings are also spread throughout the book. Back matter provides a section called Why Was Amritas’s Art Important? and another section of interesting references. mjw |
| Title: Amrita Sher-gil: Rebel With A Paintbrush Author: Anita Vachharajani Illustrator: Kalyani Ganapathy Publisher: Harper Collins Children’s Books Copyright: 2018 Original Publisher: Harper Collins Children’s Books. India Original Copyright: 2018 ISBN: 978-93-5277-473-9 Hardcover pages: 184 Age range: 10 up Genre: Information book, Biography, Nonfiction Book setting: Hungary, India, France, Pakistan Author’s ethnicity: Indian Author’s residence: Mumbai Illustrator’s ethnicity: Indian Illustrator’s residence: Nilgiris Awards: 2020 USBBY Honor List Subjects: Art Biography, India, Indian freedom, Hungary, Painting |
Amrita Sher-gil: Rebel With A Paintbrush
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Twelve-year-old Sora and her family live in Communist North Korea in 1950. War is coming and they need to escape. The family plans to walk the 300 miles from their village to the South Korean city of Busan. There is a bombing and Sora and her eight-year-old brother Youngsoo are left to get there on their own. It’s winter, and they have to face enemy soldiers, starvation, frostbite, deprivation, and other hardships as they struggle to complete their journey. This highly engrossing story is loosely based on the author’s mother’s experiences. An author’s note, photographs of the author’s family, a glossary of Korean words, a timeline of the Korean War, and a map of Sora’s journey are included.
