This book was offered through the LibraryThing First Readers Program. I saw an exhibit of Norman Rockwell's art at the Winnipeg Art Gallery a few years ago and was very impressed by how much work he put into his illustrations. This book explores his portrayal of people of colour in his work. Sounds interesting.

Many people think of Norman Rockwell as illustrating life in white, middle-class America. That's what Jane Petrick thought too until she went to the Norman Rockwell Museum and saw two pictures with black people in them. That started her on a quest to discover how many Rockwell pictures portrayed people of colour.

For many years Rockwell was doing illustrations for the Saturday Evening Post. We've probably all seen a number of these illustrations even if we've never see that magazine. As I learned when I saw the The Art of Norman Rockwell Exhibition at the Winnipeg Art Gallery, Rockwell worked very hard to produce those iconic images. He always used real people as models and went to great trouble to find just the right subject. I didn't know until I read this book that Rockwell chafed under the restrictions imposed by the Post that he not use any people of colour unless they were in menial positions. Finally he resigned his position with the Post and went to work with Look magazine. His first illustration for look was the now famous picture of the little African-American girl walking to school escorted by National Guards. He went on to do many more illustrations with people of colour including Asians, Native Americans and more African-Americans. The cover of this book shows a picture of Rockwell with a Navajo family that he used as models for a painting called Glen Canyon Dam. Rockwell was commissioned by the federal government to produce a work of art of Glen Canyon Dam but when they saw what he had produced it was not displayed until years later.

Petrick combines oral history from Rockwell's models with meticulous research and her own personal responses. I now feel I know quite a bit more about Rockwell and that I like him even more than I did previously.

I'm going to take this book to the Winnipeg meet-up tonight. If no one takes it home then it will be waiting on the OBCZ shelf for a new reader.

This book arrived at Cafe D'Amour today. It is currently on the OBCZ shelf patiently awaiting its next reader.

This book is no longer on the OBCZ shelf. Maybe it will call home sometime.

Missing from the shelf for over a year this book has now returned. Where was it in that time? Who did it meet? How many readers did it have? We'll never know for sure but it is now available for a new adventure.

This book was still on the OBCZ shelf when we had our meeting today although many more have left the shelf since our last meeting. So I decided that I would take it home for a wild release.

I left this book on a bench near the bandstand. This release is for the 2016 52 Towns in 52 Weeks release challenge - Town #28

When you find a BookCrossing book it is yours to do with what you like. You can read it and keep it or pass it on or if you don't think it is your kind of book pass it on to someone who might like it or release it in a spot for someone else to find like you just did. Whatever you choose it would be great if you could write a short note letting us know what new adventures the book is on.

Haven't read it yet but sounds interesting