Author: Elizabeth Borton de Trevino
Originally published : 1965
Length: 192 pages
Award: Newbery Medal 1965
Personal Enjoyment Rating: 3/5
Amazon Rating: 4/5 (33 Customer Reviews)
Goodreads: 156 ratings, 3.76 average rating
Length: 192 pages
Award: Newbery Medal 1965
Personal Enjoyment Rating: 3/5
Amazon Rating: 4/5 (33 Customer Reviews)
Goodreads: 156 ratings, 3.76 average rating
"I, Juan de Pareja, was born into slavery early in the seventeenth century." Trevino has taken what little is known of the lives of the Spanish painter Diego Velazquez and his slave, Juan, and created an inspiring story of courage and persistence. After a childhood filled with tragedy and abuse, Juan is inherited by Velasquez, and works in his studio preparing materials. Juan soon begins to paint but does so in secret, because slaves are forbidden to learn the arts. Although he feels guilty keeping his painting from his master, he feels compelled to fulfill his need to paint. Eventually he knows he will have to confess to Valasquez, who believes in painting things as they really are--to innacurately "beautify" a painting would be wrong.
While this was an interesting and somewhat educational children's novel, I certainly didn't find it to be a page-turner. I had a hard time imagining a child finding it at all engaging, and thought it was peculiar that the main character is an adult for a very large portion of the book. There's a lot of death, which I'm sure was quite realistic for that time period, but it got to be pretty depressing. I was reading this while camping and I would gasp and say "Oh, no!" When my kids asked what was wrong, I would say, "Someone died." After a few times of this, they would say, "Someone else died, didn't they?" It does end on a positive note though, and I felt like it was a good book, just not a great one.
While this was an interesting and somewhat educational children's novel, I certainly didn't find it to be a page-turner. I had a hard time imagining a child finding it at all engaging, and thought it was peculiar that the main character is an adult for a very large portion of the book. There's a lot of death, which I'm sure was quite realistic for that time period, but it got to be pretty depressing. I was reading this while camping and I would gasp and say "Oh, no!" When my kids asked what was wrong, I would say, "Someone died." After a few times of this, they would say, "Someone else died, didn't they?" It does end on a positive note though, and I felt like it was a good book, just not a great one.
I felt the same way about this one. It was somewhat interesting (and I did learn things) but fairly slow, and I can't imagine a kid choosing to read it on his own.
ReplyDeleteWe've read over a hundred novels aloud as a family, and it's true that kids wouldn't enjoy many books if they read them alone. But, I'll tell you--my kids loved this book--when my daughter was 12 and son was 11. I think so many stories we've read over the years have been rated high for us because of the experience in getting to know the characters together. I often wonder if I would have enjoyed many of the books if I had read them silently/alone.
ReplyDeleteI felt the same way about this one. It was somewhat interesting (and I did learn things) but fairly slow, and I can't imagine a kid choosing to read it on his own.
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