DAVE THE POTTER

Hill, Laban Carrick.  Dave the Potter.  Ill. by Brian Collier.  New York:  Little, Brown and Company, 2010.  ISBN 978-0-316-10731-0. 


Plot Summary

Imagine a world where reading a book is forbidden.  Imagine a life in which you have no choices.  Imagine a world of suffering, humiliation, and servitude.  If you can envision all of that, welcome to the world of Dave the Potter.   Dave the Potter transports the reader back in time nearly 200 years.  A time when slaves were used for nothing more than their strong backs in manual labor.  Teaching a slave to read or write was forbidden.  It was during this time that Dave the Potter broke the mold.  He created art out of the dirt upon which others merely tread.  He created poetry, when many could neither read nor write.  He established a legacy that remains etched in the halls of our history today.


Critical Analysis

Laban Hill depicts the real-life story of Dave the Potter in such a way that the readers feel like they are sitting by the spinning wheel watching a master at work.  Dave was a slave and had no last name, but that didn't stop him from making a name for himself that has lasted nearly two centuries.  Throughout the book there is a sense of forbearing that something bad will happen, some tragedy will befall the newly-beloved character in this biographical book.  Page after page, readers are drawn to discover what will happen, how will Dave the Potter survive in a culture where slaves were not meant to show such creativity, such insight, and such life-giving talent.

Brian Collier uses warm colors throughout the book with a smattering of cool greens and blues for contrasting effect.  His depiction of Dave the Potter exudes strength and inner calmness, as well as,  forcefulness peppered with grace.  The readers are mesmerized from the first illustration of Dave the Potter sifting the dirt through his fingers to the last illustration of him writing a poem on his semi-hardened pot.

The book concludes with photographs of surviving pottery pieces of Dave the Potter and accounts of the background surrounding his poetry.  The pieces are known to be his because of the poems, signatures, and dates etched on them.  The last surviving piece was dated May 3, 1862.  Dave the Potter wrote the following on this work of art:

I, made this Jar, all of cross

If, you don't repent, you will be, lost= 

Awards 

Caldecott Honor Book (2011) 
Coretta Scott King Award for Illustrator (2011)


Review Excerpts

"The book’s quiet dignity comes from its refusal to scrutinize life as a slave; instead, it is nearly a procedural, following Dave’s mixing, kneading, spinning, shaping, and glazing. Collier’s gorgeous watercolor-and-collage illustrations recall the work of E. B. Lewis—earth-toned, infused with pride, and always catching his subjects in the most telling of poses."   Booklist 11/1/2010

"An accomplished, visually stunning homage to an important African-American artist."  Kirkus Reviews 8/15/2010


Other books by Laban Carrick Hill

Harlem Stomp!:  A Cultural History of the Harlem Renaissance
America Dreaming:  How Youth Changed America in the Sixties
A Brush with Napoleon:  An Encounter with Jacques-Louis David

Visit his website for more information:  www.labanhill.com


Other books illustrated by Bryan Collier

Martin's Big Words:  The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Rosa
Cherish Today:  A Celebration of Life's Moments

Visit his website for more information:  www.bryancollier.com


Book Connections

The Pottery Place by Gail Gibbons
The Beginner's Guide to Making Pottery


Biographical Article Connection

"Dave the Potter."  The University of South Carolina-Aiken.  Last updated October 5, 1999,  http://www.usca.edu/aasc/davepotter.htm


Connection Activities

• Visit the following website:  http://www.digitaltraditions.net/html/D_Resources.cfm

You will find lesson ideas on pottery making, pottery traditions, craft work of enslaved African Americans, poetry to add to the reading experience, and more.

• Give each student clay and have each one create their own masterpiece and/or allow students to create a short poem that expresses how the book inspired them to break the mold.