Action Jackson (Single Titles) (Hardcover)

by Jan Greenberg (Author), Sandra Jordan (Author), Robert A. Parker (Illustrator) "The wind blows in from Gardiners Bay, bringing the scent of salt marshes and sea lavender..." (more)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Nicknamed "Action Jackson" for his kinetic style, abstract artist Jackson Pollack takes the spotlight in this outstanding picture book biography. Collaborators Greenberg and Jordan (Chuck Close: Up Close) frame their account around a significant period in Pollack's life in 1950, when he created Number 1, 1950 (also called Lavender Mist), one of his most famous paintings. Readers follow Pollack into his barn studio, watch over his shoulder as he lays the canvas on the floor and begins to work all the while learning about his early life and influences ("Like the Native American sand painters he saw as a boy out West, he moves around the canvas coaxing the paint into loops and curves"). Weaving in quotes from Pollack himself and such child-friendly details as the artist's pets (including a tame crow named Caw Caw), the authors craft an imaginative account grounded in solid research and enlivened with lyrical prose ("He swoops and leaps like a dancer, paint trailing from a brush that doesn't touch the canvas"). Parker (To Fly, reviewed below) suggests the artist's graceful motion with the barest of penstrokes; in one spread, Pollock's body curves across both pages as he paints. Whether capturing the intensity of the creative process and the artist's unique choreography or the spare vistas of sea and sky near the artist's Long Island home, Parker's impressionistic pen-and-watercolor illustrations pay homage to the painter's sweep of line and color ("energy and motion made visible," to quote Pollack). An extensive afterword offers notes and sources, as well as photos of Pollack at work and quotes from his friends and colleagues. Ages 6-10.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Grade 1-8-Greenberg and Jordan offer another remarkable book as they capture a two-month period during which Jackson Pollock created Number 1, 1950, (Lavender Mist). Though only focusing on this one painting, the authors manage to include interesting and revealing details about Pollock's childhood influences, his pets, his studio, and his environment. The active tense of the text lends immediacy and liveliness to the subject, "an athlete with a paintbrush" who "swoops and leaps like a dancer." Quotes from Pollock himself reveal his distinctive artistic process. The thoughtfulness and care that went into his painting should effectively put to rest any of the "I could do that" skepticism his art sometimes evokes. The authors remark on the widely varying responses to Pollock's work, and make note of his seminal place in 20th-century American art. Parker's watercolor illustrations capture the spirit of the text: dynamic as Pollock dances/paints, more introspective as he sits on the beach, watching the gulls. This is an exemplary picture-book biography, with lyrical prose and appealing illustrations that capture the moods of its subject, plus fascinating biographical details, photographs, and source notes. The text is accessible enough for younger readers to appreciate if read aloud and lively enough to appeal to older readers, who just might be inspired to learn more about the artist.
Robin L. Gibson, Perry County District Library, New Lexington, OH
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Roaring Brook Press (September 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0761316825
• ISBN-13: 978-0761316824
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 10.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #775,754 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Art as process, October 6, 2008

By	Judy K. Polhemus "Book Collector" (LA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Action Jackson (Paperback)

When modern art is brought to the table, the question for the untrained is quite often: Is this art? What makes art? Can I do this? For such questions, answers always vary. It is art if you think it is art even if it may not be good art. The final consensus is that it is art if it challenges and sustains. Such art is universally held to be art.

Early on, modern art broke tradition, broke stereotypes, and set the art world on its heels. Until this time artists tried to capture a realistic experience--people, objects, landscapes--and put them on canvas. The moderns were the first to ignore the boundaries of the canvas. In fact, iconoclasts that they were, they acknowledged the confines of the canvas and its two-dimensional world and started experimenting with new techniques. The Impressionistic painters were the first, then the Post-Impressionistic painters went jumps ahead. Instead of painting broad realistic pictures, they began defying shapes, colors, time.

Jackson Pollock represents one segment of this new modern art, that which is called "action painting," or "spatter painting." This book, "Action Jackson," details Jackson's technique of creating art and making the viewer feel and appreciate his vision and told simply enough for a child to understand.

How did Jackson work? He lay out a huge canvas on the floor of his studio, studied it, then spattered house paint across it--directly from the can, from a stick, a brush. He worked over a series of days to get everything just right.

His vision was to lay out colors and patterns and the intermixing of colors and patterns to create a canvas that spoke of something more cosmic than a bowl of apples. For Jackson the process of painting said as much as the final product. This book beautifully conveys the idea of his vision and his process and his final product. I never dreamed a writer and an illustrator could capture the essence of Pollock's work in one thin children's book, but this most definitely does.

Perhaps the success of this book in capturing Jackson's style and work earned it an Honor Award in the Robert F. Siebert contest, and a New York Times Best Book of the Year, and a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year. "Action Jackson" was published in 2002. Jackson Pollock died in a car crash in 1956.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Meet Jackson Pollack....., December 12, 2002

By	Roz Levine (Virginia) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Award winning authors, Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan introduce a whole new generation to the brillance of painter, Jackson Pollock as they focus on just two months in the artist's life, and the creation of one of his most famous paintings, No. 1, 1950 (Lavender Mist). Based on firsthand accounts from friends and family, and often using the painter's own words and quotes, this well researched and enlightening picture book biography lets the reader get into Pollock's head, hear his thoughts, feel his energy and joy as he works, and actually peek over his shoulder as he paints. "An athlete with a paintbrush, he uses his whole body to make the painting. Layers build with each gesture, new colors emerging, blending, and disappearing into the wet surface. He swoops and leaps like a dancer, paint trailing from a brush that doesn't touch the canvas..." Their eloquent and lyrical prose is engaging and complemented by Robert Andrew Parker's bold, bright, and busy watercolors. Together word and art paint a dazzling and evocative portrait of the artist, his work, and his times. "Some people will be shocked when they see what he has created. Some Angry. Some confused. Some excited. Some filled with a happiness they can hardly explain. But everyone will agree- Jackson Pollock is doing something original, painting in a way that no one has ever seen before..." Perfect for youngsters 7-11, Action Jackson includes a short biographical sketch at the end to augment the story and fascinating notes and sources about his life and paintings. This is non-fiction at its very best. Kudos to Greenberg, Jordan, and Parker

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book, June 9, 2008

By	Jennifer Uselton - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Action Jackson (Paperback)

I am am Elementary Art teacher and I use this book in my classroom. The children love the story. I personally like how the children can get into the world of "Action Jackson" without knowing the actions of Jackson.