Dave the Potter – Artist, Poet, Slave is a true story about Dave, a slave who lived during the 1800s. Not only was Dave a slave, but he was an artist who created beautiful pottery. On his pottery, Dave would leave a poem, date, and sign his name. Dave’s pottery is still around today in the McKissick Museum at the University of South Carolina.
Throughout Dave the Potter – Artist, Poet, Slave the reader gets a detailed glimpse at the steps Dave went through to create his pottery. The illustrations in the story are beautiful and very life-like. With the flow of the story and the illustrations I felt as if I was seeing the real Dave create a work of art.
Dave the Potter – Artist, Poet, Slave addressed diversity by educating the reader about life during the 1800s for a slave. However, this story is different than most stories about slavery because Dave is allowed to make pottery. During this time most slave owners would not allow their slaves to have any skills besides field work for fear they would demand respect and/or freedom. This book is a great example to show students that sometimes slave owners would allow their slaves these freedoms. I believe that this would be a great book for almost any grade level to use during Black History Month or any time to educate their students about the 1800s, artwork, slavery, or famous African Americans.
