Warhola, J. (2003). Uncle
Andy's. New York, NY:
Putnam.
Reading level: AD640L
Interest level: Grades 1 - 3
Written by James Warhola, “Uncle
Andy’s” explores what it would be like to have the ultimate in bizarre, quirky
uncles – Andy Warhol. Warhola invites us along a trip his family took to visit
Warhol in the summer of 1962, the year of Warhol’s first solo exhibition.
Warhola did both the text and the artwork for this book, and his illustrations
are adorable and detailed. Warhol is almost too cute, with geometrically spiky
white hair and Mary Englebreit-esque facial expressions. The story works, and
the author is even playful with his depiction of his father, explaining that
his dad left his yard littered with his junkyard overflow and never bothered to
call ahead to warn Andy they were coming. I thought these bits of family
information went nicely parallel with what we know about Warhol: his affinity
for “junk,” his general irreverence. Also, when describing one of Warhol’s Coke
case projects: “Uncle Andy didn’t buy those soup boxes, he built them out of
wood and painted each one. They were art and really important, too, because
Uncle Andy told us not to touch any of it.” I also learned some great factoids
about Warhol, like that he lived with his mother and had 25 cats. The story
ends with Warhola feverishly drawing and painting in his own room, inspired by
his trip to see his artist uncle. In the classroom, you could use this book to
lead a discussion on what makes art “art” or how we are inspired.
