Author Visit: Javaka Steptoe

On March 28, third and fifth graders were treated to a visit by the 2017 Caldecott award winning author Javaka Steptoe.

Here’s a description of his book, “Radiant Child”
Jean-Michel Basquiat and his unique, collage-style paintings rocketed to fame in the 1980s as a cultural phenomenon unlike anything the art world had ever seen. But before that, he was a little boy who saw art everywhere: in poetry books and museums, in games and in the words that we speak, and in the pulsing energy of New York City. Now, award-winning illustrator Javaka Steptoe’s vivid text and bold artwork echoing Basquiat’s own introduce young readers to the powerful message that art doesn’t always have to be neat or clean–and definitely not inside the lines–to be beautiful.

Mr. Steptoe recalled how he started as an artist and encouraged the students to not give up on their dreams. Mr. Steptoe then read his book “Radiant Child” to the students and invited a few students to assist him in acting out the story.