Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews

A picture-book tribute to fashion photographer Bill Cunningham.From fashion and beauty journalist and children's author Blumenthal comes a touching tale of one of New York's most beloved and slightly eccentric fashion icons. With his signature "blue French worker's jacket, tan pants, and black sneakers" and a camera "slung around his neck," for decades Cunningham cycled the streets of Manhattan, seeking both the figures who made fashion and those who consumed and put it proudly on display each day. "He who seeks beauty will find it," said Cunningham, the humble hat maker-turned-photojournalist who single-handedly created the genre of street-fashion photography, presenting the images of regular people and models together in his New York Times photo column "like squares on a story quilt." D'yans' scintillating watercolors, depicting Bill in action on the street or his subjects who "looked like leopards in their leopard prints, …dudes in dots and spots," perfectly match Cunningham's unassuming edginess with their ragged splashes of brilliant color and deft smear technique that creates a three-dimensional illusion of motion. Seasoning her spare text just so with Cunningham's own voice (sourced in notes), Blumenthal effectively communicates her admiration for her subject.Beautifully rendered and told, the book brings to life the work of a gifted 20th-century artist whose creative vision will always be in vogue. (author's note, bibliography) (Picture book/biography. 4-12)

ALA Booklist (Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 CDT 2018)

With the proliferation of cameras in today's world, it's interesting to consider a time when street photography was not yet commonplace. Fashion photographer Bill Cunningham was at the helm of this practice, not only by capturing the unique styles of New Yorkers from his favorite street corner, but also by turning it into an art form. He inconspicuously sought out those who dressed boldly and creatively, whether these individuals were at fashion shows or simply hailing a cab. D'yans' splotchy watercolors are as vibrant and daring as Cunningham's subjects. Skirts swish down catwalks, and a woman in an orchidlike dress sashays down the boulevard beside someone in an outrageous leopard-fur coat l fodder for the blue-jacketed photographer pedaling through the city on his trusty bike. Blumenthal aptly comments that "pictures were his words, fashion his language," and readers will see the truth of this by the book's end. Awarded France's Legion of Honor among other accolades, Cunningham remained humble and perpetually joyful in his work. This effervescent account of his career will get readers' creative juices bubbling.

Horn Book (Mon Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2019)

Pictures were his words, fashion his language.

Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

A picture-book tribute to fashion photographer Bill Cunningham.From fashion and beauty journalist and children's author Blumenthal comes a touching tale of one of New York's most beloved and slightly eccentric fashion icons. With his signature "blue French worker's jacket, tan pants, and black sneakers" and a camera "slung around his neck," for decades Cunningham cycled the streets of Manhattan, seeking both the figures who made fashion and those who consumed and put it proudly on display each day. "He who seeks beauty will find it," said Cunningham, the humble hat maker-turned-photojournalist who single-handedly created the genre of street-fashion photography, presenting the images of regular people and models together in his New York Times photo column "like squares on a story quilt." D'yans' scintillating watercolors, depicting Bill in action on the street or his subjects who "looked like leopards in their leopard prints, …dudes in dots and spots," perfectly match Cunningham's unassuming edginess with their ragged splashes of brilliant color and deft smear technique that creates a three-dimensional illusion of motion. Seasoning her spare text just so with Cunningham's own voice (sourced in notes), Blumenthal effectively communicates her admiration for her subject.Beautifully rendered and told, the book brings to life the work of a gifted 20th-century artist whose creative vision will always be in vogue. (author's note, bibliography) (Picture book/biography. 4-12)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

In keeping with Bill Cunningham-s singular fascination with the visual splendor of fashion, Blumenthal and D-yans offer a close-up on the photographer-s creative pursuits. With dynamic processions of swooshing colors, patterns, and fabrics, D-yans vividly conveys how Cunningham viewed New York City fashion through his eyes and lens. One figure wears a trailing cloak that features an inky landscape; elsewhere, moths and dragonflies emerge from a woman-s gown. Cunningham is portrayed as an impassioned observer who captured the beauty of his subjects in unguarded moments on the street, or from the handlebars of his beloved bicycle. Blumenthal peppers her prose with quotations from Cunningham that speak to his devotion to his art and his celebration of clothing as a true expression of human individuality. Ages 4-8. (Aug.)

School Library Journal (Fri Mar 01 00:00:00 CST 2019)

Gr 2-5 A picture book biography of the New York Times ' fashion photographer Bill Cunningham offers plenty of glitz but little substance or usefulness. Cunningham spent decades taking photographs of glamorously dressed New Yorkers while he lived in spartan accommodations and dressed in a self-imposed uniform. As in Cunningham's photographs, the illustrations are fairly homogeneous: nearly all the people shown in the colorful watercolor illustrations are tall and willowy, dressed in eye-catching Western-style clothing and makeup, with no visible disabilities. While the text claims that fashion has nothing to do with wealth, pages of rich people at "first-nighter galas" and "doing puddle-jumping dances in their thousand-dollar shoes" hint otherwise. No particular connection is made to children. Bibliography, quotation sources, and an author's note constitute the back matter. The format does not suit the subject well and is unlikely to find much of a young audience either for pleasure reading or biography reports. VERDICT Of interest only to specialized fashion collections. Sarah Stone, San Francisco Public Library