Between the Lines

Starred review from November 20, 2017
This rich portrait of an innovative and determined artist begins with Ernie Barnes as a child in the segregated South. Despite a desire to pursue art, football was Barnes’s ticket to college, where he visited museums for the first time and was dismayed to find no black artists represented (“Your people don’t express themselves in that way,” a docent told him). But Barnes refused to abandon his artwork, even after being drafted as a professional footballer. Collier’s multidimensional collages are a dynamic mix of gridiron action and quiet moments of Barnes with his brushes and canvases. It’s a well-sourced, stirringly told account of an artist drawing inspiration from and finding beauty in the immediate surroundings of his world. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Liza Voges, Eden Street Literary. Illustrator’s agent: Marcia Wernick, Wernick & Pratt.

January 1, 2018

Gr 1-4-The pursuit of dreams and the resilience of the human spirit shine in this illustrated biography of one of the world's greatest sports artists. Growing up in the segregated south, Ernie Barnes loved to draw and rarely left home without his sketchbook. Shy, quiet, and often picked on, Barnes found his voice by painting what he observed in his surroundings: families walking, an old man snoring, the junk man peddling. When he grew to be six foot three, he was recruited for the high school football team and eventually earned a sports scholarship to an all-black university. Still, Barnes was discouraged: he wanted to be an artist instead of an athlete. His art teacher inspired him to paint what he saw, and suddenly his calling was realized: he will paint football, seeing the beauty in what before was ordinary. Barnes would go on to make the NFL, play for the Colts, and paint his first football painting, The Bench, a work that would define his career for years to come. After leaving football for good, his professional dream was fully realized when he was invited to become the official artist for the American Football League: "When I became an athlete, I didn't stop being an artist." Collier's illustrations are storytellers on their own, blending emulations of Barnes's work with dynamic, mixed-media imagery that enhances the book's historical relevance. VERDICT An absolutely indispensable illustrated biography that will remind readers of all ages that it's never too late to pursue their dreams.-Natalie Romano, Denver Public Library

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from December 15, 2017
Not even the thrill of football could dissuade Ernie Barnes from pursuing his artistic dream.Born in 1938 in Durham, North Carolina, Ernie grew up a quiet kid in an African-American family with a mother who exposed her children to music and art despite the segregation of museums and performance halls. While his 6-foot-3-inch frame in high school prompted the football coach to recruit him, Ernie never felt as passionately about football as he did about art. He would sit on the bench and sketch the plays anytime he wasn't on the field, which his coaches did not always appreciate. When Ernie's successful professional football career slowed, he approached the American Football League (which merged with the National Football League in 1970) to become their official artist. While this is not an own-voices story for Wallace, both her extensive research and her prior career as an ESPN reporter make her well-qualified to tell this story. African-American artist Collier captures Barnes' life as only another dedicated artist could: with skill, a strong sense of place, and hints throughout of Barnes' artistic style. Collier's cover image encapsulates so much of Barnes' fascinating story that, after reading the book, children can revisit the cover to discover its clues.A biography with appeal for sports fans and budding artists alike, it will also beckon to any reader who appreciates a well-told, artfully illustrated story. (author's and illustrator's notes, resources, quote sources) (Picture book/biography. 4-8)

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Starred review from January 1, 2018
Grades 2-4 *Starred Review* Growing up in North Carolina during the 1940s and '50s, Ernie Barnes was a quiet black kid who loved to draw and paint. Though he had little interest in sports, he excelled at high-school football and earned a scholarship to college, where an art teacher inspired him to paint what he saw around him. He played in the NFL for five years before retiring to devote himself to art. Barnes painted what he knew, from neighborhood memories to football players in action. As a college student, he once asked to see paintings by African American artists at the local art museum and was told, Your people don't express themselves in that way. He knew otherwise. Years later, the same museum exhibited his paintings. The book's lengthy, helpful back matter includes several of Barnes' paintings as well as notes by the author and illustrator. Coauthor of Blood Brother (2016) and Bound by Ice (2017), Wallace tells the story using specific details and a broad perspective that heighten its meaning. Collier's expressive, unconventional illustrations, created with watercolors and collage, use rich colors and overlapping images to portray Barnes growing from a shy child to a self-assured artist. A visually striking, enlightening picture-book biography.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)