GROWING AN ARTIST

A young artist helps his father on the job.

In this autobiographical tale, author/illustrator Parra recounts his childhood experience of tagging along to work with his papi, an independent landscape contractor, for the first time. Young John learns new skills as he, Papi, and Papi’s assistant, Javier, tame a wild yard. He even has the opportunity to sketch a nest of baby birds between tasks. John is dismayed when he encounters a classmate who ignores him while he works. Father and son continue their day, making purchases at a nursery and completing jobs all over town. John becomes immersed in his ideas for a new landscape design and works alongside his dad to commit a beautiful layout to paper. He is so busy that he is able to forget the earlier awkward encounter with his classmate. A few weeks later, the design John helped to draw comes to life as the team landscapes a new yard according to the plan. Taking great pride in his work but remembering the dismissive attitude of his classmate, John vows that “I will use my art to tell the stories of hardworking, passionate people who make the world more beautiful.” Parra’s acrylic paint artwork is colorful and sumptuous, with lots of interesting details. John’s father is from Mexico, and characters are depicted with skin tones ranging from tan to dark brown. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A heartwarming family story that underscores the value of creativity, passion, and hard work.