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A review by sausome
The Amazing Collection of Joey Cornell: Based on the Childhood of a Great American Artist by Candace Fleming
3.0
A large part of my rating this 3 stars, rather than 2, is that I just like that there is now a children's picture book referencing artist Joseph Cornell.
Also, it really bothers me that people keep referring to Joseph Cornell as "Joey" outside of the book. As far as I know, he really was NEVER called "Joey" - "Joe" or "Joseph" - and it really minimizes him as a serious artist, in my opinion. As a character in a children's picture book, he is "Joey". But outside of that, No. I wish the author had just called it "The Amazing Collection of Joe Cornell" - I think the kids could handle it.
However - the caveat that this is "based on Cornell's childhood" is a bit misleading, as we don't really know a lot about what Cornell's childhood was like. The aspect of his having a childhood show in his barn is interesting, but the details of what was shown is according to his sisters, and was not actually noted anywhere, aside from the single surviving ticket he made. And this piece of information comes from probably the most comprehensive biography about Cornell to date, which isn't even cited in the "Selected Bibliography," which I thought was odd. The book is, "Utopia Parkway: The Life and Work of Joseph Cornell," by Deborah Solomon, re-released 2015.
I suppose his life and mind are a bit too esoteric to properly describe for children, and chronology doesn't necessarily matter for a children's book (here's where "based on the childhood of" bothers me).
The message of the book is that anyone can create, or try to, and who knows what the next bit of art will be. This, I like. I do wish the author had mentioned more about his love of squirreling himself away reading and also seeing films. I think these early years were more about those things than actual collecting, though he did love to get things from his Father's trips. More images of finished pieces to connect the themes within the book would have been nice (i.e. the "Aviary" series, homages to ballet, celestial boxes, etc.)
Also, it really bothers me that people keep referring to Joseph Cornell as "Joey" outside of the book. As far as I know, he really was NEVER called "Joey" - "Joe" or "Joseph" - and it really minimizes him as a serious artist, in my opinion. As a character in a children's picture book, he is "Joey". But outside of that, No. I wish the author had just called it "The Amazing Collection of Joe Cornell" - I think the kids could handle it.
However - the caveat that this is "based on Cornell's childhood" is a bit misleading, as we don't really know a lot about what Cornell's childhood was like. The aspect of his having a childhood show in his barn is interesting, but the details of what was shown is according to his sisters, and was not actually noted anywhere, aside from the single surviving ticket he made. And this piece of information comes from probably the most comprehensive biography about Cornell to date, which isn't even cited in the "Selected Bibliography," which I thought was odd. The book is, "Utopia Parkway: The Life and Work of Joseph Cornell," by Deborah Solomon, re-released 2015.
I suppose his life and mind are a bit too esoteric to properly describe for children, and chronology doesn't necessarily matter for a children's book (here's where "based on the childhood of" bothers me).
The message of the book is that anyone can create, or try to, and who knows what the next bit of art will be. This, I like. I do wish the author had mentioned more about his love of squirreling himself away reading and also seeing films. I think these early years were more about those things than actual collecting, though he did love to get things from his Father's trips. More images of finished pieces to connect the themes within the book would have been nice (i.e. the "Aviary" series, homages to ballet, celestial boxes, etc.)