UPTOWN by Bryan Collier

Collier, Bryan. 2000. Uptown. New York: Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 0805057218

Summary
In this book written and illustrated by Bryan Collier, the reader is shown the sights of Harlem through the eyes of a young boy. This story does not have a traditional beginning, middle and end. Each page begins with a sentence about uptown. For example, “Uptown is little sisters. They’re on their way to church in matching yellow dresses (Collier 2000).”

Analysis
This book won a Coretta Scott King award for illustration in 2001 and it is beautifully illustrated. The pictures are a combination of collage with watercolor and the effect is stunning. The realistic elements in each picture go perfectly with the simple text. The boy explains his favorite parts of Harlem and is shown in most of the pictures.

Harlem is a historically African American neighborhood in New York City and all of the characters in this story are African American. Each character and place is shown through the eyes of the boy and we see his impressions of the places. For example, “Uptown is a row of brownstones. I like the way they come together when you look at them down the block. They look like they’re made of chocolate.” The descriptions and drawings of Harlem are accurate because the author actually lives and works in Harlem. While Mr. Collier was still an art student in New York he began to volunteer at the Harlem Horizon Studio and Harlem Hospital Center. The program offers work space and support for local artists (http://www.bryancollier.com/artist.html). Mr. Collier works on illustrating books full time now but he still volunteers at the center. Even though Mr. Collier is very talented, he tried for seven years to publish children’s books. Uptown is his first book and I recommend it highly.

Connections
This book can be used to introduce and study collages. It can also be used to study urban communities, or neighborhoods of New York City, or Harlem.

Reviews
In Book Links Magazine, Melinda Underwood says, “This is a tour of the sights of Harlem, including the train, brownstones, a barbershop, summer basketball, the Harlem Boys Choir, and sunset over the Hudson River -- all stunningly depicted by Collier’s unique collage technique (Underwood 2004).”

School Library Journal says “…Collier's evocative watercolor-and-collage illustrations create a unique sense of mood and place. Bold color choices for text as well as background pages complement engagingly detailed pictures of city life (Eames 2000).”

Works Cited
Collier, Bryan. 2009. http://www.bryancollier.com/artist.html

Eames, Alicia. 2000. "Uptown." School Library Journal 46, no. 7: 70. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed June 28, 2009).

Underwood, Melinda. 2004. "Uptown (Book)." Book Links 13, no. 4: 53-53. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed June 28, 2009).