Grand Canyon: Exploring a Natural Wonder [Hardcover]

Wendell Minor (Author)

Book Description

Wendell Minor, inspired by the paintings of early American artist-explorers, set up his easel on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon and recorded his visit in watercolors. With majestic art and inviting text, Minor's book captures the grandeur of the canyon for readers of all ages. Full color.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In what Minor (Everglades; Red Fox Running) calls a "visual diary" of a 12-day sojourn, he retraces the steps of 19th-century artist-explorer Thomas Moran to capture the Grand Canyon in "on-the-spot sketches." At first glance, the reader may see little more than a closely associated but undifferentiated collection of watercolor studies. Paradoxically, it is the text that breathes life into the art. Minor writes of massive silence and constantly changing shadows, of the "rush of wind" over his head and the thunder echoing among canyon walls, of a scale so large that it distorts perceptions. Most particularly, he writes of the intimacies within the grandness: a bee fly "hovers like a small helicopter" and takes a drink from the artist's paint water; the once-raging Colorado River "seems to meander past like a lazy snake on a very cool morning." But while Minor's artistic vision is clearly defined, its very personal expression may invite a kindred response only from adult readers. All ages.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-8-Following in the footsteps of artist Thomas Moran (1837-1926), whose luminous watercolors and studio oils helped convince Congress to preserve the Grand Canyon as a National Park in 1919, Minor?paintbox, sketch pads, and pencils in hand?records his own awareness of a genuinely splendid place. From his arrival on May 2nd, 1997, to his departure on May 14th, the artist describes scenery and emotions in a lyrical text and with the swift delicacy of an accomplished outdoor watercolorist. Readers see his paintings with their eyes and also picture in their minds the vastness of the Colorado River "...meander[ing] past like a lazy snake on a very cool morning...," and the poignant opportunism of a bee fly as "...He hovers like a small helicopter at the edge of my paint water jar and takes a drink." Determined report writers can glean snippets of data here, but stark data is not what this book is about. Like Virginia Wright-Frierson's A Desert Scrapbook: Dawn to Dusk in the Sonora Desert (S & S, 1996), this polished work enables youngsters to see a much-photographed natural wonder through the admiring, philosophical mind and the swift, careful fingers of an artist, a view as impressive as the subject of the book itself.
Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic (September 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0590479687
• ISBN-13: 978-0590479684
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 9.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,833,097 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Wendell Minor is the author and/or illustrator of nearly fifty award winning books for children. He has collaborated with many accomplished authors, among them Newbery Award winning naturalist Jean Craighead George, Charlotte Zolotow, Mary Higgins Clark, Robert Burleigh and astronaut Buzz Aldrin. Several of his books, including two with Buzz Aldrin - Reaching for the Moon and Look to the Stars, and Mary Higgins Clark's Ghost Ship - were New York Times bestsellers.

In addition to children's books, his illustrations and design have enhanced over 2000 works, including the covers of David McCullough's Truman, John Adams and 1776, Pat Conroy's The Prince of Tides and South of Broad, and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

Wendell's paintings have been widely exhibited, and can be found in the permanent collections of the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, MA, the Library of Congress in Washington DC and the New Britain Museum of American Art in CT, to name just a few.

Wendell's collaboration with his wife Florence, If You Were a Penguin, was the 2009 selection for Pennsylvania's One Book, Every Young Child early literacy program. He and Florence live and work in Connecticut. www.minorart.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Looking Carefully, June 8, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Grand Canyon: Exploring a Natural Wonder (Hardcover)

This is a thoughtful look at the wonders of the Grand Canyon as seen by a noted American illustrator who took his time to look carefully at and sketch some of that space. The gorgeous watercolors painted from his sketches convey the beauty and the color of the Grand Canyon and the accompanying text from his journal help put the images into perspective. Minor makes the spaces come alive.

5.0 out of 5 stars Exploring a Natural Wonder, March 26, 2002

By 

Isabel Harding (Atlanta, GA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Grand Canyon: Exploring a Natural Wonder (Paperback)

Renowned author and illustrator Wendell Minor takes readers on an extraordinary journey in the picture book GRAND CANYON. Minor, who has graced book covers with his art for more than twenty-five years, is also one of the most revered children's book illustrators around. He's done collaborations with Newbery Award-winning author Jean Craighead George, including EVERGLADES, ARCTIC SON, and the soon-to-be-published CLIFFHANGER, as well as critically acclaimed books with Eve Bunting, Anne Turner, and Charlotte Zolotow. Now, he tells of his experiences in one of America's most celebrated natural treasures, with lyrical text and stunning watercolors. For twelve days he spent time on the South Rim of the canyon, sketching and painting the huge rocks, the dramatic skies, and the abundant wildlife in the area. The colors are rich and intense, yet at the same time peaceful, perfectly complementing the words. You feel as if you're right there, standing over the canyon with space all around you. This is an excellent introduction for kids to a magnificent place, and even if, like me, you've never visited the Grand Canyon, you'll feel as if you were taking the journey and living the experience, too.