Just Jerry: How Drawing Shaped My Life

In kinetic sketches and sensorial prose both warm and electric, late Caldecott Medalist Pinkney recalls his post-WWII childhood and path toward making “something of my name.” Three quick-paced sections and an epilogue span the figure’s early life on Philadelphia’s East Earlham Street (“our tight-knit, all-Black block”), his navigating dyslexia at school, and his adopting art as a profession. Through it all, Pinkney finds solace and joy in drawing, a talent that adults recognize from a young age: an English teacher rewards him with extra credit for sketching diagrams, a boss encourages him to draw between selling newspapers, and a comic-strip artist steps forward as a mentor. Pinkney’s discoveries that his school difficulties don’t define him, and that his artistic gift can secure his future, give the story power and excitement. Throughout, familial portraits prove moving, including those of Pinkney’s mother, who instinctively knew when he was anxious, and his hardworking father, whose recognition he desired. Though an editor’s note explains that the art for this volume wasn’t finished before the author-illustrator’s 2021 death, loose sketches included throughout convey a vivid sense of life in progress, giving this treasure of a memoir a growing and changing feel. Pinkney’s language reflects the era in which he was born, a decision contextualized in the epilogue. Ages 8–12. (Jan.)