I really enjoyed this book. I was able to learn a little bit about Bill Traylor's life as a slave and as an artist. Bill Traylor was born into slavery, and he worked long hard hours in the field. When slavery was abolished, Bill was set free and off he went to the city. It was difficult for Bill to find a job in the city because he could not read or write. When he found a job, he was able to find himself. Bill wandered the streets in Montgomery, Alabama, and he found his passion for art. Bill started drawing his memories of the field. Charles Shannon met Bill, and he was able to get Bill's art in museums. ( )

It has always driven me crazy when I come across a book about a visual artist and the book has no pictures. Now, I am thinking primarily of the dense, humorless tomes I ran across in my art history classes in the early Clinton years. I couldn’t understand how a proper discussion of an artist could be had if at least some of that artist’s work was not shown. So, of course, I was a bit disappointed to find that It Jes’ Happened: When Bill Taylor Started to Draw includes only one small reproduction of Bill Taylor’s art. Off to the internet once again, the author seems to be suggesting, go trace it down yourself.

Bill Taylor was a witness of history. Born into slavery in 1854, Taylor grew up on a plantation in Alabama, witnessed the Civil War, and lived on with his family on the farm of their former captors until his eighties. He then moved to Montgomery, where he struggled to make ends meet and was frequently without a home. And then, at the ripe age of 83, he began drawing.

This book is beautiful. I think the art is a nod to the art of Bill Taylor himself, but I cannot be sure because, as mentioned above, there is only one small reproduction of his art in the whole book. Either way, the images pull you in and provide as much information as does the text, which written rather plainly, its only expressiveness coming from the oft repeated line, “Bill saved up memories of these times deep inside himself.”, the books constant reminder that he was going to draw all he had witnessed later in life. The afterword lets you know the details of his “career” and recognition.

You could use this book to teach students about different types of art, but I think its hidden strength is actually the window it provides into the complexities of race and slavery in the United States. Why did the Taylors chose to stay on with the people who had bought them like property? Why did Bill feel an affinity toward them up through the end of his life? These are just some of the great questions that could be discussed after students read this book. ( )

This picture-book biography introduces many to the life and drawing of folk artist Bill Traylor. He grew up as an enslaved boy in Alabama. When slavery ended, Bill’s family stayed on the farm as sharecroppers. In his 80's, he began to draw his memories of growing up on a plantation and his life along the way. He ended up with a huge collection of drawings. This a great book for kids to look at. ( )

This book is about a man named Bill Traylor. The book talks about how he was a slave, and then when slavery ended his family stayed on the farm as share croppers. When Bill grew older, he was poor with where to go. Bill decided to started drawing memories from his life. This drawings became beautiful artwork that have won him awards. This book would be good to read to a third grade class. ( )

A wonderful story of a man who grew up working on a cotton farm, that in his adulthood he would own. Bill Traylor eventually moved to a city in Alabama and began drawing. At this moment he was an elderly man. Bill Traylor is well known for being a self-taught American folk artist. The imagery in the story helps the reader to understand what it felt like to be there with Bill throughout the story as he collected each and every memory only to express them through art when he grew older. ( )