Bound To Stay Bound

School Library Journal - 05/24/2024 Gr 1–3—While Georgia O'Keeffe's art has been properly celebrated in several picture books, this loving tribute focuses on its sources of inspiration—most particularly the land and its bounty. After exchanging the skyscrapers of New York for a more solitary life beneath the broad skyscapes of New Mexico, Robinson writes, the artist planted a garden from which for the rest of her life she harvested sustainably grown fruit, vegetables, and flowers that nourished her art-making. Hooper unwisely attempts to reproduce several of O'Keeffe's paintings but, on other pages, along with lush floral sprays and spreads of baked goods, she offers more evocative images of close up leaves and flowers, of puffy clouds, and golden desert hills. These are interspersed with glimpses of the artist working on paper and canvas, carefully arranging potted succulents and animal bones, making her own clothes, and gazing contemplatively into the distance. "Her garden still grows today," the author concludes, though it may remain more abstract than real to young audiences as actual views of it are notably absent, and a closing photo of the artist only shows her kneeling on a patch of rocky, uncultivated ground. Still, earlier pictures of vegetable seed packets and a tally of flowers in the narrative at least hint at the titular gifts, and the back matter features brief guidelines for budding organic gardeners. Better yet, the trove of handwritten recipes she left behind is represented by a truly inspiring one for Pecan Butterballs (1 cup butter, 2 cups pecans, a little flour to hold things together—yum!). VERDICT Too limited in scope to be a first introduction to (arguably) the greatest American painter, though of some value for its insights into her character and later life.—John Edward Peters - Copyright 2024 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Booklist - 01/17/2024 *Starred Review* This gentle, beautiful work can inspire many conversations and complement numerous classroom studies, describing as it does the life of Georgia O’Keeffe as an artist, gardener, chef for her friends, and conservationist. “To Georgia, everything was art, and art was everything,” and readers will learn how her life embodied those maxims in everything she did. The text appears in short bursts alongside Hooper’s vivid paintings of scenes from O’Keeffe’s life and of her oversize flowers. The flowers first appear as part of O’Keeffe’s artworks, but then, after Robinson relates how the artist fled the confines of New York City for the open, colorful landscape of New Mexico, they also appear in the garden that she lovingly tended and that was such an inspiration. O’Keeffe employed sustainable gardening techniques, such as companion planting instead of pesticides, and these and other conservation ideas are discussed in the afterword. O’Keeffe’s recipe for pecan butterballs and a list of online and print sources for the book also appear in the back matter. This will be a great companion read to Patrick McDonnell’s Me . . . Jane (2011) for readers who want to learn about women who blazed their own trail and is a must for public library and classroom shelves. - Copyright 2024 Booklist.