To BMA
FREE U.S. SHIPPING AT $50
Children's book cover titled "It Jes' Happened" showing an illustrated scene with several Black children and an older Black man around a table, set against a pink and red background with award seals.
A stylized illustrated scene showing a seated man at a table in front of a red brick wall, with a large pink box in the foreground and a street scene with buildings, cars, and pedestrians in the background. Small text appears along the bottom right.
Two illustrated book pages showing a whimsical historical scene with figures, boats, birds, and text blocks. The left page has a yellow background and the right page has an orange sky, both with hand-drawn style drawings in earthy tones.
A stylized illustrated scene showing a person standing in a dark forest beside a large purple hill with a block of text printed on it. The artwork uses muted blue, brown, black, and purple tones, and the text appears to be part of the printed panel rather than a separate instruction or measurement graphic.
$11.95

Lee & Low Books Inc

It Jes' Happened: When Bill Traylor Started to Draw

By Don Tate Illustrated by R. Gregory Christie

The inspiring biography of self-taught (outsider) artist Bill Traylor, a former slave who at the age of eighty-five began to draw pictures based on his memories and observations of rural and urban life in Alabama. 

By the time he was eighty-one, Bill was all alone on his farm. So he packed his bag and moved to Montgomery, the capital of Alabama. Lonely and poor, he wandered the busy downtown streets. But deep within himself Bill had a reservoir of memories of working and living on the land, and soon those memories blossomed into pictures. Bill began to draw people, places, and animals from his earlier life, as well as scenes of the city around him.

Today Bill Traylor is considered to be one of the most important self-taught American folk artists. Winner of Lee & Low’s New Voices Award Honor, It Jes’ Happened is a lively tribute to this man who has enriched the world with more than twelve hundred warm, energetic, and often humorous pictures.

Softcover / 8.75" × 10.5 " / 32 pages / ages 6 to 11

Customer Reviews

Be the first to write a review
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)