Bibliographic information:
Parr, Ann (2006). Gordon Parks: No Excuses. Gretna: Pelican Publishing Company
Grade Level Appropriateness:
3rd – 5th
Credibility of the Author:
Ann Parr takes an interest in people’s lives and loves to know how they got to where they are. Along with some help from advisors from Vermont College, Parr composed this book to show the life Gordon Parks made for himself through his photography skills.
Summary of the Book:
This book gives a very brief summary of the life of Gordon Parks. When Parks was a boy, his mother told him that he could achieve anything “no excuses”. His mother died when he was only 16. He found work as a waiter on a railroad. While working on the railroad, he met a photographer from LIFE magazine. Parks looked at the magazine and decided he was interested in photography. He studied all the elements of photography and got his own camera. He began taking pictures of everyday things. Once he had gotten a collection of pictures, he took them to the headquarters for LIFE magazine. He showed them to the editor. The editor liked what he saw. Soon after that, Gordon Parks became the first African American photographer for LIFE magazine.
National Standards it Relates to:
Social Studies
III. People, Places, and Environments
Illustrations:
This book contains photographs taken by Gordon Parks himself. There are also charcoal sketches illustrated by Kathryn Breidenthal. The sketches and photographs combined capture the audience. They were beautifully arranged and done.
Access Features:
The most prominent access feature in this book was the photography it contained. The photographs captured lives and times of people from several walks of life. There were photographs of models and photographs of street gangs.
How I would use the book in my classroom:
I would use this book in younger grades as a part of a study on biographies.
Response:
I thought the book had wonderful photographs. I wish it had gone into more detail about his life. It seemed very general. For younger children in school, that’s great. However, for older children and adults, I think it would be beneficial to have more background from Gordon Parks’ life.
Related Texts:
Biographies
Leonardo de Vinci by Diane Stanley
The Story of Walt Disney: Maker of Magical Worlds by Bernice Selden
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3 comments:
When I read this book, I thought the photographs told the stories of other people's lives and perhaps about what the photographer thought was important.
The book left me wanting to know more about Park's life too. I think good books leave us wanting to know more.
This sounds like a great book! I'd like to read it and share it with my class.
I had never heard of Gordon Parks until reading your annotation. This would be a great book to share with a class during Black History Month. Sometimes, we hear about the same people over and over. Its not that their stories are important, but its great to learn about people we do not know that much about.
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