Emily Carr: At the Edge of the World [Hardcover]

Jo Ellen Bogart (Author), Maxwell Newhouse (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 23, 2003 | Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

Shortlisted for the 2005-2006 Red Cedar Book Award, Nonfiction

Selected as Honour Book by the Children's Literature Roundtable Information Book of the Year

The brilliant artist Emily Carr lived at the edge. When she was born, in 1871, Victoria, British Columbia was a small, insular place. She was at the edge of a society that expected well-bred young ladies to marry. For years, she was at the edge of the world of artists she longed to join.

Emily Carr’s life was not an easy one. She struggled against a family that did not approve of her art and against poor health. She found her pleasures in her many pets – a Javanese monkey named Woo, parrots, and many beloved dogs. Later, she would meet the artists of the Group of Seven and among them find her soul mates.

When illness put a stop to her painting, she found expression and comfort in her writing. Her book Klee Wyck received Canada’s highest literary honor – the Governor General’s Award.

Emily Carr: At the Edge of the World is an introduction to this remarkable artist and her paintings.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8-With an excellent-quality, full-color reproduction of Carr's work facing every page of text, this is a gorgeous look at the Canadian artist's life at the turn of and during the early part of the 20th century. Carr visited the Native peoples of the Northwest and was inspired to paint their world, leaving a record of their spirituality and artifacts. Her unusual subjects, travels, and frustrations are related chronologically. The text is written in small type; the size of the plates will work well with groups. While Bogart includes elements of "Emily thought" this or that, this type of extension is reasonable given the many journals and writings that Carr left behind. Newhouse's pen-and-ink drawings add a sense of the artist's personality but are sometimes awkward in execution. Not a first purchase, but a worthy consideration.
Cris Riedel, Ellis B. Hyde Elementary School, Dansville, NY
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Gr. 4-8. Carr was an eccentric Canadian artist who gained recognition in the early half of the twentieth century for both her writings and artwork, much of which depicts the art and daily lives of Pacific Coast native people. In this picture-book biography for older readers, Bogart follows her iconoclastic subject through childhood, early artistic struggles, lifelong battles with health, adventurous painting trips into the Canadian wilderness, and, finally, widespread recognition late in life. The straightforward, sometimes sophisticated language doesn't always capture the details that will interest young readers most. But Bogart carefully shows both the admirable artist and the difficult, complicated human behind the work, including enough detail to support reports. On each spread, Newhouse's small, appealing ink drawings of Carr appear opposite sharp reproductions of Carr's work. Art students and children looking for report topics for women's history assignments will want this, as will any reader interested in Canadian history. A time line and an extensive bibliography (of mostly adult titles) are appended. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Tundra Books; aFirst Edition First Printing edition (September 23, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0887766404
• ISBN-13: 978-0887766404
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 0.4 x 11.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,957,174 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jo Ellen was born in Houston, Texas and spent her formative years in various cities of that state. At the University of Texas in Austin, she received degrees in elementary education and psychology. She moved to Guelph, Ontario in 1975 and worked as a supply teacher for several years, enjoying especially her experiences in school libraries. Jo Ellen has two grown children, a son and a daughter.

A real animal lover, Jo Ellen has had many interesting pets over the years, including Peruvian parrotlets, a coatimundi,and an Argentine tortoise. Current pets include Wendell the Border Collie, a huge koi, goldfish, and a ton of very colorful guppies.

Jo Ellen also loves reading, gardening, swimming, web surfing, and playing with two wonderful grandchildren. She has really enjoyed opportunities to visit and speak to children in many parts of Canada and likes to hear from her readers.

Jo Ellen loves the interplay of art and words in picture books and has written many. She likes to write about nature, numbers, art, and science. She loves fireflies, the northern lights and shooting stars, enjoying the research and learning involved. Her love of art led her to write biographies of two of Canada's best-loved female artists, Emily Carr and Maud Lewis.

A pair of books about four furry friends, THE BIG TREE GANG and OUT AND ABOUT WITH THE BIG TREE GANG, the latter of which was co-written with Jo Ellen's daughter, Jill Bogart, was aimed at early elementary readers. Jo Ellen's 2009 picture book from Tundra Books, entitled BIG AND SMALL, ROOM FOR ALL, was nominated for the Lane Anderson Award for science writing for young readers, a great honor for the book of beautiful illustrations and very few words.

After years of writing song lyrics, Jo Ellen met singer-songwriter/guitarist Eddie Douglas and formed a songwriting team that added six of her songs to Eddie's Juno nominated CD, GONNA KEEP DANCING. A new album soon to be released, SLEEPY SKY LULLABY, will feature more of Jo Ellen's lyrics and some songs co-written with Eddie.

Jo Ellen is very happy to have had her book GIFTS, illustrated in plasticene by Barbara Reid,chosen as the TD Grade One Giveaway book for 2011. It will be given free to each grade one student in Canada next fall.