A vibrant picture-book biography celebrates the life, passions, and unique creativity of Corita Kent. Born Frances Elizabeth, Kent, a white woman, surprised family and friends by becoming a Catholic nun—Sister Corita—at a young age. First assigned to teach elementary school students, Kent found her artistic stride as a faculty member in the art department at Immaculate Heart College. Her artistic approach could be summed up in a word of her own coining: plork, a portmanteau of “play” and “work.” Kent found art and inspiration in everyday signs and objects and encouraged her students to look closely at the world around them. Passionate and bold, she created colorful prints that shouted for justice, peace, and unity and attracted the disapproving eye of the Catholic Church. After three decades as a nun, Kent was released from her vows upon request. She continued to inspire through art for the rest of her life; her work includes an enormous rainbow splashed across a gas tank in Boston, and her well-known rainbow “Love” stamp. Illustrations reminiscent of Kent’s style, bursting with bold colors, collage, and large geometric shapes, complete this lively tribute. (Ages 6-12)

Deeply influenced by her religious beliefs and fired up by the social justice causes of her day, artist, designer, and educator Corita Kent was a nun like no other!

A 2022 Bologna Ragazzi Award Amazing Bookshelf Selection
A 2022 ALA Notable Children's Book
A Booklist Editors' Choice: Books for Youth, 2021
A Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Books of 2021
A Marginalian (formerly Brain Pickings) Loveliest Children's Book of 2021
A Bank Street College of Education Best Book of 2022, of Outstanding Merit
Nominated for a 2021 Ezra Jack Keats Writing Award
Featured in the 2021 Society of Illustrators Original Art Exhibition
A 2021 NCTE Orbis Pictus Recommended Book for Children's Nonfiction
A Booklist Top Ten Arts Books for Youth of 2021
A CCBC (Cooperative Children's Book Center) Choices Best Children's Book, 2022
Stars from Booklist, Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, and more!

Corita Kent (1918-1986) lived a remarkable life as an artist, educator, nun, and activist. Unapologetically holding true to herself and her beliefs, Corita spread a powerful message of love, hope, and justice with her work, as it evolved from figurative and religious art, to serigraphs incorporating the sacred and the ordinary, to a sparser, more introspective style.
This timely story will draw readers into the life of a singular woman whose work and commitment invite us all to seek joy in the everyday, to observe the world with open eyes, and to question and see beyond the existing frameworks of society.
Thoughtfully written by Matthew Burgess and vibrantly illustrated by Kara Kramer, this beautiful biography, made in close collaboration with the Corita Art Center, includes reproductions of Corita's works, a chronology, and author and illustrator notes.