Signs of Hope: The Revolutionary Art of Sister Corita Kent

Ages 4 to 8, Grades P to 3

Signs of Hope is a picture book biography of groundbreaking artist, teacher, and Catholic nun Corita Kent from critically acclaimed author Mara Rockliff, with stunning full-color art from Caldecott Honor winner Melissa Sweet.

Let Corita teach you how to see the world in a whole new way!

Sister Corita Kent, the “pop art nun,” burst onto the 1960s art scene with splashes of color and ad slogans transformed into messages of love, hope, peace, and justice. The art world would never be the same—and neither would the young people whose lives she changed.

Join Corita’s students as they learn how to look at the world around them through an artist’s eyes. With Corita, work is play, imagination means adventure, and there is no line between life and art.

Told with joy and energy by award-winning author Mara Rockliff and spectacularly illustrated by two-time Caldecott Honor winner Melissa Sweet, Signs of Hope brings a revolutionary artist’s teachings—still fresh, still inspiring—to a new generation. As Corita told her students, “Be ready to see what you haven’t seen before!”

About the Author

Mara Rockliff is the award-winning author of dozens of children’s books, including A Perfect Fit: How Lena “Lane” Bryant Changed the Shape of Fashion as well as Sweet Justice: Georgia Gilmore and the Montgomery Bus Boycott, called an “essential purchase” in a School Library Journal starred review. She lives in western Massachusetts. Melissa Sweet has illustrated over 100 books, as well as toys, puzzles, and games. Her work has appeared in magazines, on greeting cards, and as drawings on her living room walls. She has received numerous awards, including two Caldecott Honors for A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams and The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus, both by Jen Bryant.