Make Meatballs Sing: The Life and Art of Corita Kent -- Matthew Burgess

Deeply influenced by her religious beliefs and fired up by the social justice causes of her day, artist, designer, and educator Corita Kent was a nun like no other!

A 2022 Bologna Ragazzi Award Amazing Bookshelf Selection
A 2022 ALA Notable Children's Book
A Booklist Editors' Choice: Books for Youth, 2021
A Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Books of 2021
A Marginalian (formerly Brain Pickings) Loveliest Children's Book of 2021
A Bank Street College of Education Best Book of 2022, of Outstanding Merit
A 2021 NCTE Orbis Pictus Recommended Book for Children's Nonfiction
A Booklist Top Ten Arts Books for Youth of 2021
A CCBC (Cooperative Children's Book Center) Choices Best Children's Book, 2022
Stars from Booklist, Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, and more!

Corita Kent (1918-1986) lived a remarkable life as an artist, educator, nun, and activist. Unapologetically holding true to herself and her beliefs, Corita spread a powerful message of love, hope, and justice with her work, as it evolved from figurative and religious art, to serigraphs incorporating the sacred and the ordinary, to a sparser, more introspective style.
This timely story will draw readers into the life of a singular woman whose work and commitment invite us all to seek joy in the everyday, to observe the world with open eyes, and to question and see beyond the existing frameworks of society.
Thoughtfully written by Matthew Burgess and vibrantly illustrated by Kara Kramer, this beautiful biography, made in close collaboration with the Corita Art Center, includes reproductions of Corita's works, a chronology, and author and illustrator notes.

Author: Matthew Burgess
Publisher: Enchanted Lion Books
Published: 09/07/2021
Pages: 80
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.95lbs
Size: 12.05h x 11.26w x 0.55d
ISBN: 9781592703166
Audience: Ages 4-8

Review Citation(s):
Booklist 06/01/2021 pg. 70
Kirkus Reviews 07/01/2021
Publishers Weekly 07/12/2021
School Library Journal 11/01/2021 pg. 84

About the Author

Matthew Burgess is a full-time professor at Brooklyn College and a part-time teaching artist in New York City public schools. He was fascinated by the lives of saints as a child, and now he loves sharing the stories of his artistic heroes with young readers. Matthew is also the author of Enormous Smallness: A Story of E. E. Cummings and Drawing on Walls: A Story of Keith Haring. He lives with his husband in Brooklyn and Berlin.

Kara Kramer is a mixed media artist, and illustrator who loves to PLORK with all mediums. She has taught creative art workshops for both children and adults. Ever since she was little, her happiest hours are spent moving her hands to make something new. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her family.