Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, August 1, 2008 (Vol. 76, No. 15))
Hunter started painting on scraps and gourds at age 50, using paints left by artists who frequented the Louisiana plantation where she worked. She depicted what she saw around her, cementing her legacy as a chronicler of soon-to-disappear plantation life when she became the first African-American artist to have a solo exhibition at major museum. Evans's images echo Hunter's nanve style, his bright palette paying homage to Hunter's own vivid colors. Collage elements on highly textured backgrounds incorporate reproductions of her work. While the story of Hunter's success as an untrained artist will inspire students, they will not be as impressed with Whitehead's narrative. Too many sentence fragments and backward shifts recalling the incidents that inspired Hunter's work detract from the narrative flow. A concluding author's note for adults provides the background necessary to fully understand Hunter's life. Although not outstanding, it is undeniably useful as the only picture-book biography of the self-taught Hunter, who died in 1988 at the age of 101. (thumbnail reproductions, bibliography) 2008, Putnam, 32p, $16.99. Category: Picture book/biography. Ages 6 to 9.

Deborah Stevenson (The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, October 2008 (Vol. 62, No. 2))
Louisiana artist Clementine Hunter worked as manual laborer on a plantation, using the evenings to make art from leftover paints and found materials. This picture-book biography briefly describes her art and its representation of her plantation life, including both bad times and good times. The prose is measured and simple, but the text is sketchy on both her artistic work and her biography, and some of the phrasing is unclear (does “she didn’t wait to travel and seek inspiration in foreign lands” mean that later on she did travel?); ultimately, there’s little indication here of why kids should care about either Hunter’s life or art. Reproductions of Hunter’s work are limited to a tiny closing gallery with images almost literally thumbnail-sized, but Evans’ double-page spreads are arresting mixed-media images; painted brushstrokes give a silky texture to skin and objects, pencil lines have a folklike crudeness in textures yet outline borders with a crispness that gives the figures collage-like distinctness. This would be most effective coupled with a more concrete look at Hunter’s work, so that audiences could get a clear picture of the art as well as a view of the artist. A brief bibliography is appended, and an author’s note gives more detail about Hunter’s life Review Code: Ad -- Additional book of acceptable quality for collections needing more material in the area. (c) Copyright 2006, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2008, Putnam, 32p., $16.99. Ages 5-8 yrs.