Book Title: Radiant Child – The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat (34 pages) Caldecott Prize Winning

t Prize Winning Year: 2017

Total Word Count: 781
Total Number of Illustrations: 21

Key
T + i: Text + Illustration
T Only: Text only
i Only: Illustration only

Characteristics of Play (Stuart Brown)

Characters Purposeless Voluntary Inherent Freedom Diminished Improvisational Continuation
P/S/B (Own attraction from time consciousness potential Desire
Human – M/F choice?) of self (‘flow’) (Spontaneous) Pleasure
T+i X X X X X X X

Pm drawing +
“A little boy dreams about
being a famous artist”

T+i X X X X X X X

Pm drawing +
[Contextual
“In his house you can tell a
serious ARTIST dwells”]

“As he sits at a table with

pencils scattered everywhere,
Jean-Michel draws from
morning until night with a
serious face amid a storm of
papers. He refuses to sleep
until he has created a
masterpiece”
T+i X X X X X X X

Pm drawing +
“At night, images enchant
Jean-Michel’s mind, and he
wakes from his dreams to add
one more line”
[Contextual clue:
“His drawings are not neat or
clean, nor does he color inside
the lines. They are sloppy ugly,
and sometimes weird, but
somehow still BEAUTIFUL”]
T+i X X X X X X X

Pm (drawing)
“But most important, she lies
on the floor and draws with
Jean-Michel on his father’s old
work papers”
X X X X X X X
T ONLY

Pm (learns deep meaning of art

– art is play)
Deeper meaning of art:
“It is from her he learns that art
is not only in the poetry books
she reads to him or in the
theaters and museums they
visit. ART is the street games
of little children, in our style
and the words that we speak. It
is how the messy patchwork of
the city creates new meaning
for ordinary things”
 X X X X X X X
T+i
Pm (observing art at museum)
While visiting the museum
they look at his favorite works
of art.

T Only X X X X X X X
Pm (learning history of artists) (Process is as (Inspirational
Reading the story behind each important as for his own
artist, reading the story behind the product) passion for
each work – this is how Jean- art)
Michel learns what it means to
be a famous ARTIST.

T+i X X X X X X X
Pm (painting)
“Back at home, he creates art
on the floor as his father
Gerard plays jazz records.
Mama Matilde cooks arroz con
pollo and calls Jean-Michel
“MI AMOR.” The energy and
life of the city can be felt in
each of his paintings”

Contextual Clue
Pm (learns deep meaning of art
– engaging with art helps
emotional regulation)
As time goes by, Jean-Michel
learns that art has HEALING
power.
T+i X X X X X X X
Pm (reading book)
After a car accident, he is
scared and confused. Matilde
gave him a book to calm his
fears. It is filled with pictures
of bones, skulls, and other
body parts. Jean-Michel draws
from it until he knows it all by
heart. He is no longer afraid.
Purposeless Voluntary Inherent Freedom Diminished Improvisational Continuation
(Own attraction from time consciousness potential Desire
choice?) of self (‘flow’) (Spontaneous) Pleasure
T+i X
(Process is as X X X - X X
Pm (drawing) important as
“He tries drawing the terrible the product)
out of his blues, but things are
not the same”
----- - X - - - - X
Pm (shows artwork to mother)
As Jean-Michel grows older,
he visits his mother when he
can, always bringing his
artwork to show, telling her
that one day it will be in a
museum, “WHEN I AM A
FAMOUS ARTIST”
T+i X X X X X X X
Pm (drawing)
During the day, dressed in a
green jumpsuit splattered with
PAINT, Jean-Michel stays with
friends, sleeping on couches
and floors, leaving a barrage
of collages and poem-filled
papers everywhere he goes.
T+i X X X - X X X
Pm (spray painting/graffiti)
“At night, Jean-Michel spray- Limited to (Present tense
paints the walls downtown with nighttime? used)
poems and drawings that catch
the eye of artists gallery-goers,
and passersby”

T+i X X X X X X X
Pm (painting)
SAMO moves from street
corners to art gallery walls
with powerful color
composition and line, collaging
and painting on anything he
can find. His art is still not neat
or clean and definitely not
inside the lines, but somehow
still BEAUTIFUL

T+i X X X X X X X
(Process is as (Ideas stemming
Pm (reading magazine//book important as from books/
for ideas) the product) magazines)
“Now in expensive suits
splattered with paint, he flips
through stacks of magazines
and open books…

T Only X X X X X X X
…and paints into the night and
sometimes for days at a time
while sounds and images jump
into his head”
All Stuart Brown’s Properties of Play Present
Text: 13
Illustrations: 10

6/7 Stuart Brown’s Properties of Play Present

Total: 2

5/7 Stuart Brown’s Properties of Play Present

Total: 0