Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat

Winner of the 2017 Caldecott Medal

Somewhere in Brooklyn, a little boy dreams of being a famous artist, not knowing that one day he would make himself a king.

Jean-Michel Basquiat and his unique, collage-style paintings rocketed to fame in the 1980s as a cultural phenomenon unlike anything the art world had ever seen. However, before that, he was a little boy who saw art everywhere: in poetry books and museums, in games, in the words that we speak and in the pulsing energy of New York City.

Now, award-winning illustrator Javaka Steptoe’s vivid text and bold artwork echoing Basquiat’s own style introduces young readers to the powerful message that art doesn’t always have to be neat or clean - and definitely not inside the lines - to be beautiful.