World of Glass

March 15, 2020
The award-winning authors follow glass artist Dale Chihuly from his Pacific Northwest roots through world-renowned accomplishments in color, form, and technique. Born in Tacoma, Washington, Chihuly lost his older brother and father as a teen and forged a close bond with his supportive mother. Chihuly enrolled in college at his mother's urging, working to pay his way. Courses in weaving, architecture, and design played counterpoint to frat-house partying. With his mother's blessing, Dale took time off to travel abroad. On an Israeli kibbutz he matured, returning home to finish school. Study at the University of Wisconsin, the Rhode Island School of Design, and a glass-blowing factory in Venice deepened skills and fostered a lifelong interest in innovative, team-based approaches; natural, organic forms; and the elastic properties of molten glass. In the 1970s, Chihuly co-founded the influential Pilchuck Glass School as his fame grew. After a car crash in England, he lost sight in one eye and adopted his iconic black eyepatch. In narrative details and dozens of well-chosen photographs, Greenberg and Jordan convey the kinetic techniques of glass blowing. Final chapters focus on Chihuly's artistic vision, technical boundary-pushing, and five decades of richly exuberant work. Notably, the authors mention Chihuly's adaptations to bipolar disorder. Among more typical information, the backmatter includes a partial list of Chihuly's collaborators and another of museums and galleries where readers might find his work. An ebullient homage to an innovative, enduring artist. (source notes, bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 8-14)

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April 1, 2020

Gr 3 Up-Greenberg and Jordan vividly capture the life and decades-long career of glass-blowing artist Dale Chihuly in this picture book biography. The authors highlight his quirky personality and artistic temperament. They show Chihuly speaking directly to his works and then tossing them into a river. Is he testing his pieces? Is he littering? It turns out that the art, the tossing, and the movement of the glass in the water are all part of an experiment. Chihuly is a man who loves to play, and this engaging text reflects this trait. The book's narrative runs chronologically from the sculptor's childhood in Tacoma to his determination in early adulthood to "make some sort of contribution to society." As the text traces his childhood and his progress in art, photos document his adventures and display the work that resulted from his experiments and experiences. Both the story and the photographs are compelling. The importance of diversity and teamwork shine through the text, photography, and art. VERDICT Chihuly's work is an inspiration, and this book does a good job of capturing his creativity. -Sheri Reda, Wilmette Public Library, IL

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from March 15, 2020
Grades 3-5 *Starred Review* Greenberg and Jordan, award-winning biographers of artists and architects (Two Brothers, Four Hands, 2019; Ballet for Martha, 2010), have another hit on their hands in this gorgeous work on American glass artist Dale Chihuly, whose creations grace botanical gardens and other spaces worldwide. The tightly written book chronicles, in dozens of crisp color photographs, the artist and his team's creations from workshop to exhibition. The authors also describe Chihuly's life from childhood onward, always with a focus on how he expressed his artistic sensibilities and how those sensibilities were nurtured by his family and others. Readers will learn, for example, that young Chihuly liked to play with marbles and to search for sea glass. They will also learn how his widowed mother found a way for her son to attend college, where his experiments with weaving glass into fabric foreshadowed the art showcased here. The authors subtly portray the modifications made for Chihuly's disability (he lost an eye in an accident) when he's in the workshop, making this an inclusive as well as a visually and generally attractive purchase. Lengthy (for the age group) notes, a selected bibliography, and information on where to see Chihuly's art add to the sumptuous package.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)