THE POT THAT JUAN BUILT (Pura Belpre Honor Book)

Lee & Low Books, Inc., 2002. 1st Edition 5th Printing. Hardcover. New/As New. David Diaz color illus. (Award winning illustrations). CONDITION: UNREAD, but not quite perfect, 2002 Lee & Low hardcover (pictorial boards) & dust jacket (in mylar cover - but with tiny edge wear at each 4 corners of the DJ - not horrible, but there), first edition, 5th printing. Color illustrations by David Diaz resonates with colors of desert Mexico. CONTENT: Quezada creates stunning pots in the traditional style of the Casas Grandes people, including using human hair to make brushes and cow dung to feed the fire. This real-life story is written in the form of "The House That Jack Built," and relays how Juan’s pioneering work has changed a poor village into a prosperous community of world-class artists. Illustrated by Caldecott Medal winner David Diaz. Noted Mexican potter Juan Quezada is the subject of an inventive and engrossing biography. On the left side of each spread, a "House That Jack Built"-style rhyme accumulates the often humble factors that shaped an extraordinary artist ("These are the cows all white and brown/ That left manure all over the ground/ That fueled the flames so sizzling hot/ That flickered and flared and fired the pot/ The beautiful pot that Juan built"). This lilting rhyme describes the rudiments of Quezada's process, but for more ambitious readers, the opposite page (unfortunately, in very small type) provides a straightforward elaboration ("Juan's pottery is fired the traditional way, using dried cow manure for fuels.... [M]anure from cows that eat grass, rather than commercial feed, burns at the best temperature to turn his clay pots into perfectly fired works of art"). Diaz ingeniously ties the two narrative threads together with strongly horizontal compositions and radiant, stencil-like digital renderings (a highlight is the spread in which ants point the way to a vein of fine white clay). The artist shows Quezada both at work and seeking inspiration in the scrubby foothills. The glowing tones of the artwork capture the sweep and heat of the sun-bleached landscape, while the highly stylized elements echo the decorative motifs of Quezada's pottery and lend a suitably mythic patina to this visionary artist's story. Ages 8-up.