Dave the Potter
Artist, Poet, Slave

Again, this is an amazing story I have never heard before. I don’t know if I would have known this without reading these Caldecott books. Dave was a slave and a potter, which was very very unusual. Slaves usually only did manual type labor and nothing skilled. Dave could also write which was illegal......more

"I wonder where is all my relation Friendship to all, and every nation"--Dave "Dave belongs to Mr. Miles Where the oven bake and the pot bile"--Dave This is a non-fiction picture book with some interesting insights about slavery and art. A special exhibition of Dave the potter's pottery (with poetry wri......more

I’m blown away by the man, even with the many gaps in what is known about him, and this book is a fine tribute to him; I think the book does Dave justice, and so I am pleased. Powerful true story, and I think I liked all the background information ever better than the story proper. I enjoyed the stor......more

Dave the Potter was an outstanding artist, poet and potter whose influence is still evident in South Carolina pottery. He lived in the 1800s and created his pottery with amazing skill, building enormous pots that could up to 40 gallons. He was one of only two potters known to have the strength and s......more

Dave was a real person, an enslaved person, who escaped the annals of the anonymous by signing his name and sometimes lines of poetry to his balanced and beautiful glazed clay jars. Laban Carrick Hill's words and Bryan Collier's illustrations are lovely and bring to life the world of this famous fo......more