Andrea D’Aquino is a Brooklyn, NY-based award-winning illustrator who has worked for Anthropologie, The New York Times, Conde Nast Traveler and The Washington Post. She is the author of Once Upon a Piece of Paper: A Visual Guide to Collage Making, and illustrator for the Alice in Wonderland, from the Classics Reimagined Series by Rockport.
"Andrea D'Aquino introduces us to Asawa as a little girl who spends
her time looking closely at the world and making things with
whatever was at hand. "What a fascinating shape your shell is,
Snail," she has Ruth say. D'Aquino nicely connects the imaginative
life of the child with the professional artist she became. This is
reinforced in the illustrations, which are a playful combination of
pencil drawings and collage with a loose and spontaneous feel. I
first saw Asawa's luminous wire sculptures a few years ago, and I
was struck by how beautifully D'Aquino's renderings capture the
spirit of Asawa's work."
- The New York Times Book Review
"At once whimsical and subdued, charcoal, colored pencil, and
collage art captures the wonder of her innovative wire
sculptures."
- San Francisco Chronicle
"Author and illustrator Andrea D'Aquino's thoughtful words and art
pay homage to Ruth Asawa's work and deftly capture its
extraordinary spirit. One of our favorite books published this
year."
- Avery Augustine
"Charcoal-and-colored-pencil drawings combine with hand-painted and
monoprinted paper in a striking collage representation of Asawa's
work. D'Aquino provides close-ups of the snail and dragonfly, a
landscape layout of basket craftsmen, and a geometric kaleidoscope
of squares layered upon squares, offering a variety of perspectives
and media. An author's note explains her inspiration for the book
and offers sobering facts about the Asawa family's internment in
various camps. Additional resources enable young artists to
discover this artist's work for themselves and offer step-by-step
instructions to create a folded paper dragonfly. This distinctive
biography brims with artistic vision as it informs about a
signature sculptor."
- Kirkus Reviews
"D'Aquino offers young readers "the story of an artist you may have
never heard of" Ruth Asawa (1926-2013), a Japanese American creator
of nature-inspired wire sculptures. A third-person text effectively
uses occasional imagined quota-tions from young Ruth to convey the
sense of curiosity and wonder at the natural world that would later
define this artist. Throughout the narrative, there's also an
emphasis on the handmade-from a childhood spent on a farm to her
studies at Black Mountain College to learning basket-weaving from a
local craftsperson in Mexico, which would inspire her woven-wire
sculptures. The book's illustrations, too, evoke the handmade;
charcoal and colored-pencil drawings are combined with hand-painted
and monoprinted paper in distinctive, naive-style collages."
- The Horn Book Magazine
"D'Aquino showcases how Asawa's curiosity and handiwork, set amidst
charcoal and colored-pencil drawings and mixed-paper collages,
carried her into adulthood, where her creative talent began to
receive praise and attention. Through this picture-book
contribution, not only will Asawa's art reach a new audience, but
her artistic practice will inspire the next generation of creative
minds to express themselves with handmade art. A worthwhile
addition to picture-book collections everywhere."
- Booklist
"D'Aquino's illustrations utilize charcoal, colored pencil, and
collage with beautiful muted colors and whimsical designs. D'Aquino
also includes illustrated instructions on how to create a paper
dragonfly, a great activity for storytime."
- School Library Journal
"I admit that I hadn't heard of Ruth Asawa before reading this
picture book-which is kind of why books like this are so important.
It's a lovely book."
- GeekDad
"This introduction to the life of the Japanese-American artist Ruth
Asawa (1926-2013) follows her early life growing up on a farm, her
time at the legendary Black Mountain College, and the trip to
Mexico where she learned to weave with wire. Colorful textural
collage illustrations convey the way her creative practice was
informed by the world around her. Instructions for a paper
dragonfly close the book, encouraging readers to emulate this
teacher, who "knew that the best way to learn is to use your
hands."
- Publishers Weekly
""Ruth Asawa was an award-winning Japanese-American sculptor,
activist, and influential individual, who was 'a beloved figure in
the Bay Area art world.' A Life Made by Hand beautifully showcases
her creative journey, which started on her family farm and took her
to Black Mountain College, where she "pursued an experimental
course of education with leading avant-garde artists." Included in
the book is a page of teaching tools for parents and educators
reading this book to the young art lovers of today."
- Romper,
"
"Asawa never attained the kind of name recognition accorded woman
sculptors like Louise Nevelson and Louise Bourgeois. Happily, a
clutch of recent books should help burnish her reputation and
explain why her innovations have not received greater
acknowledgment among historians and curators."
- The Walll Street Journal
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