Painter Ben Shahn used his art to tell stories about people who were outsiders in America, such as immigrants, prisoners, and Jews like Shahn himself. Born in a shtetl in Lithuania, he came to the United States as a child following his father’s imprisonment and eventual escape from Siberia for speaking out for fair pay for workers. As an immigrant, Shahn was bullied for being Jewish and struggled to learn English, but his talent for drawing was recognized. At age 14, he apprenticed to a lithographer, hand-lettering signs. He attended art school at night, but he wasn’t interested in creating landscapes; he wanted his art to reflect real people and their lives and experiences. In the 1940s and 50s, Shahn was accused of disloyalty to the government and questioned by the FBI because of his art. But he continued to depict the lives and work of activists, protesters, and ordinary people, which is why he came to be known as “the people’s painter.” Arresting illustrations in gouache, acrylic, pencil, chalk, and linoleum block print make a dramatic backdrop for this engaging account of Shahn’s life and work. (Ages 8-12)