Drawing from Memory

Written by: Alan Say

Why you should read this book: Celebrated Caldecott winning illustrator Alan Say turns his focus inward, relating his earliest memories in text and illustration, along with reproductions of a few historical artifacts. Having learned to read at a very young age, Say fell in love with comic books, decided to become an artist, and spent his entire childhood honing his craft, screwing up the courage at age twelve to approach his favorite cartoonist and draw his way into an apprenticeship with Noro Shinpei, who became his sensei and served as father figure (his own father claimed that artists were lazy, scruffy, and not respectable) while giving him the tools he needed to succeed in his chosen path. The story follows him until he leaves Japan, at age sixteen, to travel in America, and includes an author's note, which details his life-long relationship with the sensei, who passed away in 2002.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You believe artists are lazy, scruffy, and not respectable.