''Tar Beach'', written and illustrated by

Faith Ringgold Faith Ringgold (born October 8, 1930 in Harlem, New York City) is an American painter, writer, mixed media sculptor, and performance artist, best known for her narrative quilts. Early life Faith Ringgold was born the youngest of three children ...

, is a children's picture book published by Crown Publishers, Inc., 1991. ''Tar Beach'', Ringgold's first book, was a Caldecott Honor Book for 1992.

Plot summary

The book is set in New York in 1939. Tar Beach is the roof of Cassie's

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Ha ...

apartment building. Cassie's dearest dream is to be free to go wherever she wants, and one day it comes true when the stars help her to fly across the city.

Analysis

Children’s literature scholar Jonda C. McNair describes how ''Tar Beach'' is unique in its use of literary innovations, particularly its combination of various artforms such as quilt making, autobiography, and painting. As spoken by Faith Ringgold in an interview with cultural critic and daughter Michele Wallace, ''Tar Beach'' was not written for children but rather to recall the essence of childhood and invoke the memories associated with it.

Awards

For ''Tar Beach'', Ringgold won the Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Award and the Coretta Scott King Award for Illustration. She was also the runner-up for the

Caldecott Medal The Randolph Caldecott Medal, frequently shortened to just the Caldecott, annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". It is awarded to the illustrator by the Association for Library Servic ...

, the premier

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members ...

award for picture book illustration. ''Tar Beach'' was also a New York Times Best Illustrated Book and winner of the Parents' Choice Gold Award.

Related artwork

''Tar Beach 2'' is what Faith Ringgold refers to as a story quilt.

In media

On Oct. 21, 2016, author Ringgold read her book on film for ''

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

''. On May 12, 2012, in a video for the Threads episode of ''Craft In America'':

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

Documentary Series & Museum, Ringgold explained her artistic and technical process as well as her inspiration for creating ''Tar Beachs illustrations,Archived a
Ghostarchive
and th
Wayback Machine
which were original

textile Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...

pieces photographically reproduced for the book.

References

{{Reflist 1991 children's books American picture books Caldecott Honor-winning works Fiction set in 1939 Coretta Scott King Award-winning works Works_by_Faith_Ringgold Children's books set in New York City Children's books set in the 1930s