Shelf Awareness--Everywhere Beauty Is Harlem

PB Review: Everywhere Beauty Is Harlem: The Vision of Photographer Roy DeCarava

Everywhere Beauty Is Harlem: The Vision of Photographer Roy DeCarava by Gary Golio, illus. by E.B. Lewis (Calkins Creek, 48p., ages 7-10, 9781662680557)

Author Gary Golio and Caldecott Honor and Coretta Scott King Ward-winning illustrator E.B. Lewis collaborate again (Dark Was the Night) for Everywhere Beauty Is Harlem, an artful picture book that is a loving snapshot of photographer Roy DeCarava (1919-2009), who saw Harlem in an "old crumpled soda can" and the spray of a fire hydrant; saw it mirrored in the eyes of the people "passing each other on the street."

Work is over, and "Roy's time is his own now." Equipped with a camera and a fresh roll of film, he takes to the streets of Harlem, dreaming of "all the treasures he'll find." SNAP! Roy captures the grin of a boy drawing with chalk on the sidewalk. SNAP! Roy admires the love he sees in the eyes of a boy looking at his mother. And SNAP! Roy photographs the hush of a young girl in a long white dress who stands in an empty lot. He knows to keep his eyes wide open, because "unexpected treasures are waiting to be seen, if you just take the time to look."

Golio has penned an elegant ode to a notable photographer, filling his narrative with sensory details and enriching it with quotations from Roy himself. Lewis's stunning watercolor art showcases the people and the neighborhood, offering a variety of perspectives to reflect the vision and work of DeCarava. Backmatter gives more details about the extraordinary man who worked many different jobs, but made use of "his free time... to record the beauty of what he saw around him." --Lynn Becker, reviewer, blogger, and children's book author.