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Common Knowledge

Legal name: Bryan, Ashley Frederick
Birthdate: 1923-07-13
Date of death: 2022-02-04
Gender: male
Nationality: USA
Birthplace: Harlem, New York, New York, USA
Place of death: Sugar Land, Texas, USA
Places of residence: New York, New York, USA
Islesford, Maine, USA
Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Easton, Pennsylvania, USA
Marseille, France (show all 7)
Freiburg, Germany
Education: University of Freiburg
Université d’Aix-Marseille
Columbia University (BS)
Cooper Union
Occupations: artist (multimedia)
children's book illustrator
poet
college professor
Relationships: Karl, Jean (editor)
Organizations: The Ashley Bryan Center, Maine, USA
Dartmouth College
Lafayette College
Philadelphia College of Art
Queen's College
Awards and honors: Fulbright Fellowship
May Hill Arbuthnot Lecturer (1990)
Society of Illustrators Lifetime Achievement Award (2007)
New York City Library Lion (2008)
Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal (2009)
Coretta Scott King–Virginia Hamilton Award (2012) (show all 7)
Regina Medal (2011)

Members

Reviews

Infinite Hope: A Black Artist's Journey from World… by Ashley Bryan

From Kirkus: "Watching Bryan generously transform the bittersweet into beauty is watching the meaning of art."

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BackstoryBooks | 6 other reviews | Apr 3, 2024 |

All Night, All Day: A Child's First Book of… by Ashley Bryan

Twenty splendid examples of spirituals are provided with simple arrangements by David Manning Thomas (guitar chords also included). Bryan's resplendent paintings fill textless double spreads that alternate with the unembellished pages of music. Visual celebrations rather than literal illustrations, they merge the representational with the purely decorative—the swirling, stylized waters of the Jordan, for example, contrasting with the faceted geometric patterns of the ships sailing on it. Bryan's palette is light but intense, like sun through brightly colored tissue paper; his figures are graced with dignity and inner serenity. A truly beautiful book, worthy of the wonderful music it showcases. Note on the spirituals. (Nonfiction. 4+)

-Kirkus Review… (more)

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CDJLibrary | Apr 2, 2024 |

Let it Shine by Ashley Bryan

This book is great for younger students at a primary level. This book showcases three very well-known songs that were first sung by slaves. Each page is beautifully illustrated and takes the reader on a spiritual journey. I would introduce this book to my classroom as a read-aloud, where my goal would be to develop my students' knowledge about the meanings of these songs and their history.

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JulianV7 | 32 other reviews | Apr 1, 2024 |

Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and… by Ashley Bryan

This book was incredibly touching. It shared the stories of eleven enslaved people and provided personal insight into their lives as people. It provided a very human and relatable message as an introduction to talking about slavery in American history. This book could be appropriate for slightly older students, maybe 3rd or 4th and up. It would not even be a bad book for middle schoolers to read as an intro to learning about this time period and civil rights.

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mmulvany22 | 34 other reviews | Jan 18, 2024 |

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