Coretta Scott King Award-winner Bryan Collier on Rosa

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Brian Kenney -- School Library Journal, 2/1/2006

Bryan Collier was named the recipient of this year's Coretta Scott King Book Award for Rosa (Holt, 2005), written by Nikki Giovanni. The award recognizes an African American illustrator of outstanding books for children and young adults. This is Collier's second King Award; he was the 2001 recipient for Uptown (Holt, 2000).

What did you do to prepare to illustrate Rosa Parks' story?

I went down to Montgomery for about four days back in 2004. I spent time in Mrs. Parks' neighborhood, talked to her best friend, saw the store where she worked. I thought she lived in a house, but I learned she lived in an apartment and was part of this close-knit community, where many people took the same bus. I understood how news could travel fast in that community.

Also, talking to Nikki [Giovanni] helped a lot as she knew Mrs. Parks. And meeting people who knew Mrs. Parks helped me think about how to represent her. The image of Mrs. Parks that many people may have is of a woman who is quiet and somewhat shy but I learned how strong and, in a way, direct she was.

How did your visit to Alabama shape your paintings?

For one thing, I was amazed by the heat. I tried to convey that with the colors I used in the book—which is why there is so much yellow and darker earth tones. They give the book an ominous feeling, a sense of the quiet before the storm. The heat changes everything, even the way people move.

There is so much happening in the paintings, including very realistic details and more dreamlike elements.

That's what the process of collage and watercolor allows you. You can create these layers, and include all the elements that are part of a person, everything that was instrumental in bringing that person along. There can be the present, but also some of the past.

At times the image of Rosa Parks seems larger-than-life, almost saintlike.

After I studied her life, I thought of Rosa as this radiant chandelier—a source of light. That's why the light in the paintings seems to come from her. I think of her as this great light who is still guiding us to this day—you see that in the last painting where she stands there surrounded by the chandelier.

What are you working on now?

I'm just finishing a book on Muhammad Ali that will be published by Candlewick later this year, and I have a book with Nikki Grimes that is due out this fall from Scholastic.