
She counteracted the negative stereotype of the Black “mammy” who was happy merely being the caretaker of white children. Through it, Faith told an alternate story of Aunt Jemima and portrayed her as a successful businesswoman. Who’s Afraid of Aunt Jemima? challenged society’s views of African American women. 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, which were original textile pieces photographically reproduced for the book.Who’s Afraid of Aunt Jemima?, Faith Ringgold, 1983 21, 2016, author Ringgold read her book on film for NPR. Tar Beach 2 is what Faith Ringgold refers to as a story quilt. Tar Beach was also a New York Times Best Illustrated Book and winner of the Parents' Choice Gold Award. She was also the runner-up for the Caldecott Medal, the premier American Library Association award for picture book illustration. Awards įor Tar Beach, Ringgold won the Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Award and the Coretta Scott King Award for Illustration.

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. 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.

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.Ĭhildren’s literature scholar Jonda C.

Tar Beach is the roof of Cassie's Harlem apartment building. Tar Beach, Ringgold's first book, was a Caldecott Honor Book for 1992.

Tar Beach, written and illustrated by Faith Ringgold, is a children's picture book published by Crown Publishers, Inc., 1991.
