Tar Beach

Tar Beach, written and illustrated by Faith Ringgold, is a children's picture book published by Crown Publishers, Inc., 1991. Tar Beach, Ringgold's first book, was a Caldecott Honor Book for 1992.

Tar Beach
AuthorFaith Ringgold
IllustratorFaith Ringgold
Cover artistFaith Ringgold
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreChildren's literature
PublisherCrown Publishers, Inc.
Publication date
hardcover 1991; paperback 1996
Pages32pp
ISBN9780517885444

Plot summary

The book is set in New York in 1939. Tar Beach is the roof of Cassie's Harlem apartment building. Cassie's dearest dream is to be free to go wherever she wants, and one day it comes true when the stars help her to fly across the city.

Analysis

Children’s literature scholar Jonda C. McNair describes how Tar Beach is unique in its use of literary innovations, particularly its combination of various artforms such as quilt making, autobiography, and painting.[1] As spoken by Faith Ringgold in an interview with cultural critic and daughter Michele Wallace, Tar Beach was not written for children but rather to recall the essence of childhood and invoke the memories associated with it.[2]

Awards

For Tar Beach, Ringgold won the Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Award and the Coretta Scott King Award for Illustration. She was also the runner-up for the Caldecott Medal, the premier American Library Association award for picture book illustration. Tar Beach was also a New York Times Best Illustrated Book and winner of the Parents' Choice Gold Award.

Tar Beach 2 is what Faith Ringgold refers to as a story quilt.

In media

On Oct. 21, 2016, author Ringgold read her book on film for NPR.[3] On May 12, 2012, in a video for the Threads episode of Craft In America: PBS Documentary Series & Museum, Ringgold explained her artistic and technical process as well as her inspiration for creating Tar Beach's illustrations,[4] which were original textile pieces photographically reproduced for the book.

References
  1. McNair, Jonda C. (October 2010). "Classic African American Children's Literature". The Reading Teacher. 64 (2): 96–105. doi:10.1598/rt.64.2.2. ISSN 0034-0561.
  2. Graulich, Melody; Witzling, Mara (1994). "The Freedom to Say What She Pleases: A Conversation with Faith Ringgold". NWSA Journal. 6 (1): 1–27. ISSN 1040-0656.
  3. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Faith Ringgold reads her 1991 children's book Tar Beach. YouTube.
  4. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Artist Faith Ringgold talks about the process of creating the Tar Beach story quilt. YouTube.
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