It began with a page :

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Title :

It began with a page : how Gyo Fujikawa drew the way / words by Kyo Maclear ; pictures by Julie Morstad.

Title:

It began with a page :

Author:

Maclear, Kyo, 1970-

Format:

Books

Physical Description:

1 volume (unpaged) : illustrations (some color) ; 30 cm

Edition:

First edition.

ISBN:

9780062447623

Production / Publication Information:

New York, NY : Harper, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, [2019]

Summary:

"Gyo Fujikawa's iconic children's books are beloved all over the world. Now it's time for Gyo's story to be told--a story of artistic talent that refused to be constrained by rules or expectations. Growing up quiet and lonely at the beginning of the twentieth century, Gyo learned from her relatives the ways in which both women and Japanese people lacked opportunity. Her teachers and family believed in her and sent her to art school and later Japan, where her talent flourished. But while Gyo's career grew and led her to work for Walt Disney Studios, World War II began, and with it, her family's internment. But Gyo never stopped fighting--for herself, her vision, her family and her readers--and later wrote and illustrated the first children's book to feature children of different races interacting together."--

Bibliography note:

Includes bibliographical references.

Target audience note:

004-008.

Language:

English

Added Author:

Morstad, Julie

Genre:

Biographies.

Personal Subject:

Fujikawa, Gyo-Biography-Juvenile literature.

Fujikawa, Gyo.

Subject Term:

Illustrators -- United States -- Biography -- Juvenile literature.

Women artists -- United States -- Biography -- Juvenile literature.

Japanese Americans -- Biography -- Juvenile literature.

Illustrators.

Women artists -- Biography.

Japanese Americans -- Biography.

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Material Type	Library	Call Number	Item Barcode	Location
Book	Searching... Amesbury Public Library	JB FUJIKAWA	32114002589795	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Andover - Memorial Hall Library Children's Room	J B FUJIKAWA, GY.	31330008689741	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Billerica Public Library	E/MAC	33934004252665	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Burlington Public Library	J BIO FUJIKAWA	32116003706294	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Carlisle - Gleason Public Library	JJ MACLEAR	32117002005324	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Carlisle - Gleason Public Library	J BIO FUJIKAWA	32117002080236	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Chelmsford Public Library	J/BIOG/FUJIKAWA	31480011306104	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Groton Public Library	JJ PEOPLE FUJIKAWA	37003701842719	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Groveland - Langley-Adams Library	JE B FUJ	32121000824926	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Hamilton-Wenham Public Library	J B FUJIKAWA, GYO	30470001786374	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Haverhill Public Library	J/BIOG/FUJIKAWA	31479007362816	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Lawrence Public Library	J BIO FUJ M	31549004859780	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Manchester-by-the-Sea Public Library	J B FUJIKAWA	32124001998483	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Methuen - Nevins Memorial Library	J-B FUJIKAWA, G.	31548003283711	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Middleton - Flint Public Library	J B FUJIKAWA	32126001738702	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... North Andover - Stevens Memorial Library	J BIO CREATIVE FUJIKAWA	31478003584977	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... North Reading - Flint Memorial Library	J-B FUJIKAWA, G.	31550002374574	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Tewksbury Public Library	J B FUJIKAWA	32132003184010	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Topsfield Town Library	J BIO FUJIKAWA	32133002474626	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... West Newbury - G.A.R. Memorial Library	J 92 FUJIKAWA	32135001483557	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Westford - J.V. Fletcher Library	J B FUJIKAWA	31990004838335	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

* 4 Starred Reviews *

* An Indie Next List Pick *

"Playful, bold, and, much like its subject, full of grace." --Jillian Tamaki, Caldecott Honor winner for This One Summer

"It Began with a Page tells [Gyo Fujikawa's] story beautifully, in picture-book form." --The New Yorker

From beloved team Kyo Maclear and Julie Morstad (creators of Julia, Child and Bloom: A Story of Fashion Designer Elsa Schiaparelli) comes an elegant picture book biography that portrays the most moving moments in the life of Gyo Fujikawa, a groundbreaking Japanese American hero in the fight for racial diversity in picture books.

Equal parts picture book biography, inspiring story, and a look at racial diversity in America, It Began with a Page is a gem for any book lover, librarian, or child who dares to dream big.

Growing up in California, Gyo Fujikawa always knew that she wanted to be an artist. She was raised among strong women, including her mother and teachers, who encouraged her to fight for what she believed in. During World War II, Gyo's family was forced to abandon everything and was taken to an internment camp in Arkansas.

Far away from home, Gyo worked as an illustrator in New York while her innocent family was imprisoned. Seeing the diversity around her and feeling pangs from her own childhood, Gyo became determined to show all types of children in the pages of her books. There had to be a world where they saw themselves represented.

Gyo's book Babies was initially rejected by her publisher, but after she insisted, they finally relented, and Babies went on to sell almost two million copies. Gyo's books paved the way for publishers, teachers, and readers to see what we can be when we welcome others into our world.

The book includes extensive backmatter, including a note from the creators, a timeline, archival photos, and further information on Gyo Fujikawa.

A Chicago Public Library Best Book of 2019

A Kirkus Best of 2019 Picture Book

A 2020 ALSC Notable Children's Book

A 2020 Orbis Pictus Recommended Title awarded annually by NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English)

Featured in the 2019 Original Art Show at the Society of Illustrators

Reviews (5)

School Library Journal Review

K-Gr 4--When Gyo Fujikawa submitted the first book she had written and illustrated, her publishers hesitated. In 1963, a book with black, white, and Asian babies engaged in daily activities was highly unusual. Maclear and Morstad introduce readers to the artist whose quiet insistence led to the publication of the groundbreaking work. Born in California in 1908, Fujikawa was often ignored by white classmates but felt the support of her high school teachers. Her varied career included painting murals, working for Walt Disney Studios, and drawing for magazines. When her West Coast family was sent to an internment camp in 1942, she kept working to help support them. Her commitment to equality and justice helped promote diverse children's books, including more than 50 she created. Many illustrations recall the elegance and simplicity of Fujikawa's own work with plain backgrounds that allow readers to focus on the main subjects: a night scene of her mother burning possessions before the family's forced departure. Tiny figures dwarfed by barracks at the internment camp. A colorful swirling kimono during Fujikawa's 1932 study visit to Japan contrasts with black-and-white drawings of times of sadness. Two pages of photos and chronological highlights follow the main text. VERDICT Maclear and Morstad pack a lot of information into a few pages. This exemplary biography of a pioneer in multicultural children's books deserves a place in most collections.--Kathy Piehl, Minnesota State University Library, Mankato

Publisher's Weekly Review

In spare, elegant spreads and graceful prose, frequent collaborators Maclear and Morstad (Bloom) tell the story of Japanese-American illustrator Gyo Fujikawa (1908--1998). An artist from the beginning, "she loved the feel of the pencil in her hand." Fujikawa is treated like an outsider throughout her California upbringing but remains determined, attending college and traveling to Japan. Working as a freelance artist in New York City when WWII breaks out, she's heartbroken when her family members, along with thousands of other Japanese-American citizens, are interned. In Morstad's artwork, crisp line drawings alternate with lively watercolor and gouache scenes that revolve around patterned textiles; the art fades with the onset of war and revivifies as Fujikawa sketches the beginnings of Babies. When one spread shows white and black babies together, the publisher rejects it until Fujikawa, recalling "all the times she had felt unseen and unwelcome," persuades them otherwise. Happily, the book is a success, and "Gyo kept going. Welcoming kids in from the edges, from the corners." Maclear and Morstad's biography conveys with quiet power how recently segregation reached into every aspect of American life, and how one woman did her part to defeat it. Ages 4--8. (Oct.)

Horn Book Review

"In early 1960s America, a country with laws that separated people by skin color," Japanese American artist Gyo Fujikawa (1908-1998) helped break the color barrier in picture books with her now-classic Babies. Author Maclear lucidly outlines a remarkable life of art and creativity, of struggle and perseverance. Growing up in California, Fujikawa excelled at drawing but "sometimes still felt invisible among her mostly white classmates." This feeling of isolation would continue into adulthood and an art career in New York City, and especially during WWII when her West Coast-based family was incarcerated in internment camps. The telling makes smooth transitions between stages in Fujikawa's life, culminating in the publication of Babies in 1963: "At the library and bookshop, it was the same old stories...a world of only white children. Gyo knew a book could hold and do more." Morstad's illustrations-in liquid watercolor, gouache, and pencil crayons-effectively vary in style and coloring to match events. In a WWII scene, a simple black line drawing shows the Fujikawa family looking fearful before an armed guard. During scenes of Babies's creation, the art capably mimics Fujikawa's own, with a diverse cast of frolicsome tots dotting an open layout, "welcoming kids in from the edges, from the corners, from the shadows." An appendix includes a photo-illustrated timeline, notes, and sources. Katrina Hedeen November/December 2019 p.115(c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Review

Pencil in hand, faced with an unjust world, Gyo Fujikawa created a new future.At 5, Japanese American Gyo Fujikawa didn't yet know what she wanted to be. She knew a pencil fit well in her hand, and she liked to fill empty pages with pictures of her world. As she grew, Fujikawa used her passion for art and her mother's activism to guide her education and inspiration. Defying gender conventions, Fujikawa attended college in 1926, when few American women did. Studying in Japan, she exchanged restrictive art classes for travel and aesthetic immersion. Back in the U.S., her family was sent to an internment camp on the West Coast while she began an art career at Disney on the East Coast, causing Fujikawa to lose her desire to draw. Eventually, she found a way to wield her craft to fight injustice. Her first book, Babies, published in 1963, featured racially diverse babies playing together and became a huge success despite publisher prejudice and misgivings. Morstad's artwork precisely balances white space with vignettes, black-and-white illustrations with eye-catching color. Often mimicking Fujikawa's style, Morstad layers engaging details and deep emotional resonance onto Maclear's spare, poetic text. Backmatter includes a detailed timeline with photos and quotes, an extensive note from the creators, and a selected bibliography and sources list.A splendid picture-book celebration of an artist and activist. (Picture book/biography. 5-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

Growing up in a Japanese American family in California, Gyo Fujikawa enjoyed drawing. Each day, she started with an empty white page ... and filled it with pictures. Though lonely at her first school, she found friends after her family moved to an island where many Japanese Americans lived. She studied art in college, traveled to Japan, and worked for Disney Studios in New York before beginning her freelance career as an artist and picture-book illustrator. Disheartened during WWII, when her family was sent to an internment camp, she continued working. Beginning with Babies (1963), her first racially inclusive picture book, she insisted that children shouldn't be segregated on the page, and she prevailed. An appended note provides information on Fujikawa's career, her passion for social justice, and her role as a trailblazer. Written and illustrated with clean, spare lines, the book reveals emotions in an understated manner. When her family was interned, the text includes phrases such as no pictures would come and her heart would not mend. In the artwork, created with liquid watercolor, gouache, and pencil crayons, Morstad uses line, color, and texture with finesse. This beautiful biography offers a fitting tribute to an artist with a lasting legacy in American picture books.--Carolyn Phelan Copyright 2019 Booklist