TAR BEACH - Faith Ringgold - one of the great children's picture books

This picture book by Faith Ringold published by Crown in 1991 is one of my most treasured books.

I bought it in 1991 and it is signed for me by the author/illustrator and dated March 29, 1991. I rate it as one of the great children's picture books.

Here is the inside front cover blurb which sums it up so well:

"I will always remember
when the stars fell down around me
and lifted me up above
the George Washington Bridge."

Cassie Louise Lightfoot, eight years old in 1939, has a dream: to be free to go wherever she wants for the rest of her life. One night, up on "tar beach" --the rooftop of her family's Harlem apartment building--her dream comes true. The stars lift her up, and she flies over the city. She claims the buildings as her own--even the union building, so her father won't have to worry anymore about not being allowed to join just because his father was not a member. As Cassie learns, anyone can fly. "All you need is somewhere to go you can't get to any other way. The next thing you know, you're flying above the stars."

This magical story resonates with a universal wish. Originally written by Faith Ringgold for her story quilt of the same name, Tar Beach is a seamless weaving of fiction, autobiography, and African-American history and literature.
Cover excerpt, Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold, Crown Publishers, New York 1991.

Awards
1992 Caldecott Honor Book
Winner of the Coretta Scott King Award for Illustration
Reading Rainbow Feature Selection
A New York Times Best Illustrated Book
Parents' Choice Gold Award

So the other day when I was reading The New Yorker dated October 25, 2010 I was delighted to come across a story by Rebecca Mead about this author/artist (pic right) whom I so admire.

The story is headed Behind Bars and it starts as follows:

Forty years ago, when Faith Ringgold, the artist who is best known for her “story quilts”—narrative paintings on fabric—won a grant of three thousand dollars to execute a work for a public institution, her first thought was to make a painting for her alma mater, City College. Unfortunately, City College didn’t want a painting by Faith Ringgold, the artist said recently. “You may want to give away a work of art, but you can’t find anyone to give it to,” she said. Ringgold, who is eighty years old, was born and raised in Harlem. “I said, ‘Where can I go to give this work to people who are interested?’ ”

Read more http://www.newyorker.com/talk/2010/10/25/101025ta_talk_mead#ixzz15VGOrpTr