BOOKLIST, 02/15/05

Bryant, Jen. Georgia's Bones. Illus. by Bethanne Andersen. Feb. 2005. 32p.

Eerdmans, $16 (0-8028-5217-3).
Gr. 2-4

This lyrical appreciation follows the widely known arc of Georgia O'Keeffe's biography and introduces key aspects of her sensibility, including her rugged self-sufficiency and her preoccupation with "shapes and spaces." As in her novel The Trail [BKL My 1 04], which was targarted at older children, Bryant writers in spare, lyrical verse, honoring her subject's idiosyncratic impressions and precise observation of the natural world: a southwestern sun that "flung itself across the sky," clouds that seemed painted "with a milk-dipped feather." Andersen, for her part, strides bravely into O'Keeffe's considerable shadow. Cow skulls, southwestern landscapes, and oversize flowers are present and accounted for, but the swooping brush-strokes and earthy textures are unmistakably Andersen's own .... This bold, beautiful rendition has a certain nonconformist flair that surely would have earned O'Keeffe's stamp of approval.



More Information