Action Jackson

One late spring morning the American artist Jackson Pollock began work on the canvas that would ultimately come to be known as Number 1, 1950 (Lavender Mist).

Award-winning authors Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan use this moment as the departure point for a unique picture book about a great painter and the way in which he worked. Their lyrical text, drawn from Pollock's own comments and those made by members of his immediate circle, is perfectly complemented by vibrant watercolors by Robert Andrew Parker that honor his spirit of the artist without imitating his paintings.

A photographic reproduction of the finished painting, a short biography, a bibliography, and a detailed list of notes and sources that are fascinating reading in their own right make this an authoritative as well as beautiful book for readers of all ages.

Action Jackson is a Sibert Honor Book, a New York Times Best Book of the Year, and a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year.

Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan are the authors of award winning children’s and young adult books about art including Chuck Close: Up Close (A Boston Glove-Horn Book Honor Book and Norman O. Sugarman Award winner); and Vincent Van Gogh: Portrait of an Artist and Action Jackson, which were both Sibert Award Honor Books.

Robert Andrew Parker is a fine artist and printmaker whose work often appears in publications such as The New Yorker. His numerous children’s books include Mr. Wellington and Cold Feet, winner of the 2002 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award.