Book Review – A Splash of Red by Jen Bryant: Summary, review, and resources for educators, parents, teachers, and librarians.
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A Splash of Red is about the artist Horace Pippin’s journey from a talented child to an injured soldier to a successful artist.
This book will appeal to many pre-kindergartners through fifth graders because it
1) is about animals (lots of kids love animal stories);
2) is easy to understand and follow;
3) is full of unique and captivating illustrations; and
4) keeps kids’ attention with an active story line.
What’s so cool about it?
I first noticed the illustrations when I picked up A Splash of Red. The detail, colors and style mesh well with the text of the story. Bryant wrote the book in third-person narrative, and it flows seamlessly from Horace’s childhood to adulthood. The plot doesn’t feel rushed, and Bryant clearly did her research on Pippin. I love that the text doesn’t just list facts but instead spins a narrative tale that brings us along on the journey of Horace Pippin.
The story flows well, but it is on the longer side, so reading it out loud to older kids may work better than reading it out loud to preschoolers or kindergartners. Elementary students will enjoy looking at the detailed mixed media illustrations, and they will enjoy the understandable text. I like to use narrative nonfiction and picture book biographies to keep children’s interest in true stories. This book is perfect for educating kids and entertaining them at the same time.
Melissa Sweet (the illustrator) incorporates Pippin’s direct quotes into the illustrations beautifully. The quotes’ style matches the deep, rich colors in the rest of the illustrations, and the quotations in the illustrations fit into the plot. (Example pictured left.) The book also includes wonderful resources that can supplement the story. For example, the inside of the back cover is a full map of where Pippin’s paintings can be located today, and the further reading suggestions include books, film, and websites. It’d be so cool if you could take your students to see one of his paintings in real life!
A Splash of Red is a great addition to non-fiction collections because it engages children in a true story. It also is a great supplement for biography lessons, art and/or paint lessons, and lessons about artists.
Want to know more?
Here is a discussion guide for A Splash of Red. It is a wonderful aid for teaching a lesson on biographies or nonfiction.
The author, Jen Bryant, has an awesome page on her website devoted to A Splash of Red. It includes links to other resources, a video about who Horace Pippin was, the book’s awards and more teacher resources and guides.
Deep Space Sparkle has an excellent art project that will be a great companion to this book. The “imagination paintings” are inspired by one of the painting’s in A Splash of Red, and requires children to imagine what they would paint on their easels. The project is for older children.