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2004
finalists.

2004 Hackmatack

Children's Choice Book Award/Prix littéraire - le choix de jeunes

Fluffy pink blossoms on evergreen trees, smiling oxen, cheery boats on bright blue water: Maud Lewis painted an exuberant world full of the sheer joy of living. Her paintings are all the more remarkable because Maud Lewis lived a life of hardship.

Maud Lewis was born into a loving Nova Scotia family, who accepted her physical limitations. When her parents died and she was forced to find her own way in the world, she married and set up a modest household in a small cabin. Despite pain and poverty, she found an unquenchable joy in her life - joy she expressed in her art. She lovingly painted animals, children, and her surroundings, and when she had no canvas, she painted on everything from bread boxes to the walls of her house. Maud Lewis died in 1970, but her wonderful folk art lives on.

The paintings in Capturing Joy: The Story of Maud Lewis are reproduced with permission of the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, which houses an extensive collection of Maud Lewis's work, including the small, wonderfully painted house in which she lived.

Jo Ellen Bogart was born in Houston, Texas and now makes her home in Guelph, Ontario. She is the author of several popular books for children, including Malcolm's Runaway Soap, Daniel's Dogs and Gifts. She has a longtime interest in, and appreciation of, naïve art, and feels a kinship with Maud Lewis.

Thematic Links

• Famous painters, famous women
• Art, painting, folk art
• Famous Nova Scotians
• Life in the olden days

Suggested Activities

• Paint what is in your world -- your hampster or goldfish, the tree outside your window, the school bus, the sea if you are lucky enough to live near it, or one of your friends. Try different kinds of paint and materials: water colour, tempera, acrylics, collage.
• Read other biographies. Read about other artists.