In the Caldecott Honor award winning illustrations for Martin's Big Words, written by Doreen Rappaport, Bryan Collier demonstrates how an artist's choice of the elements of art and book design can create a powerful aesthetic experience. The cover of the book is close-up portrait of Martin Luther King Jr., his face pictured slightly larger than life-size. There are no words on the cover. No title and no author or illustrator's names appear, an acknowledgement that this hero needs no other introduction than his smiling visage. Another reference to the greatness of Dr. King is the book's trim size. Larger than most picture books, it measures 10 1/4 by 11 1/4 inches. As we look closely at the portrait the muted tones of sepia, brown, black, gray, and the subtle textures in the painting are fitting to Dr. King and his life's work; this was a man of great depth and nobility.The highly contrasting values used to depict King's facemake him seem to leap out of the cover, and we find ourselves in the intimate
embrace of his personality. Then we open the book to brilliant reflections of stained glass end papers; these highly realistic depictions offer a vibrant and reverent entrance into the book.Turning the end paper, we finally read the book's title. "Martin's Big Words" reaches across the two pages in a warm red ochre letters almost two inches high. Martin Luther King's heroic achievements set him above the ordinary and the theme of his greatness extends through out the rest of the book. We find it in the oversize typeface that is used for all the direct quotes from Dr. King and in the many close-ups of his face throughout the book. Bryan's collage technique and his unusual points of view add depth and drama to the straightforward text. On the penultimate double page spread, Rapport describes Dr. King's visit to Memphis and ends with the simple words, "On his second day there, he was shot. He died." The ochre type set on a pure black background and the close-up of Dr. King's face framed by the bars of stained glass are immensely moving. On the final pages this same image is set behind four lighted candles. The text, "His big words are alive for us today," echo the hope of those burning flames. Bryan Collier's distinguished artistry in this book is a great tribute to this monumental figure and is sure to provide a richly satisfying aesthetic experience for the book's readers.
Bryan may be new to the children's book field but in he has already acquired a long list of awards and accolades. His Uptown was the winner of the Ezra Jack Keats New Illustrator Award and a Coretta Scott King Award for Illustration in 2001. Freedom River by Doreen Rappaport received a Coretta Scott King Honor in 2001 and Martin's Big Words, also written by Rappaport earned him a Caldecott Honor Medal and another Coretta Scott King Award in 2002.
Although much of his work is firmly grounded in the Harlem landscape, Bryan came to New York from Maryland to study art at the famed Pratt Institute. During college he volunteered to develop an art program for young patients at the Harlem Hospital. Eventually the Hospital established the Harlem Horizon Art Studio http://www.columbia.edu/cu/news/01/02/harlem_horizon_art.html http://www.freshartnyc.org/bios.html and after graduation from Pratt in 1989 Bryan was hired as its director. There he found that children were his teachers. "They're just totally free. And in that you see their inhibitions are gone. It goes directly to the visceral nature of creating." [7] He later worked with children to create thirteen murals in parks, playgrounds and schools around Harlem.
Certainly the textured landscapes of the inner city are brilliantly evoked in his collage and paint illustrations. He brought that sensibility to books for children when he saw there were few books that represented the world he knew. "They didn't look or feel or sound like me or my kids or my people. So that sort of sparked the idea that I could do this if I ever got a shot."[8] He credits Andrea Pinkney, the editor of his first book These Hands (written by Hope Lynne Price), with encouraging him to take risks in his books. He reports, "She said, 'take at least one chance in the book.' And that sort of lit me up because I was like 'Okay, I'm going to take every chance, I mean just being as honest as you can about a situation in the book.' "
Bryan's honesty extends to both pictures and words and has resulted in a fresh, vibrant, and emotionally powerful style. His work has not only captured awards but also has captivated audiences of all ages and all cultures. We hope this young illustrator has many more stories to tell in the coming years.
