Gorgeous and enlightening, nourishing both mind and soul.
Weatherford infuses the lyrics of a traditional spiritual with pivotal events in African American history.
In four-line stanzas, references to the unseen narrator (“It’s me, it’s me, O Lord”), the ancestors, and present-day children alternate with the line “Standing in the need of prayer.” From “families enslaved and sold apart,” “a band of rebels,” and “freedmen seeking kin at Emancipation” to Black students integrating all-White schools, athletes breaking records, and choirs singing of justice and freedom, African Americans from across the eras and generations are humbled before God as they face mighty obstacles with brave resistance and endurance. Readers don’t need to know the song to enjoy this book; the repeated lines have the power of an incantation, inducing a meditation on all that Black people have survived and how they have thrived. Morrison’s elegant, emotional, painterly illustrations highlight the beauty, dignity, and grace of the people throughout difficult and degrading circumstances. Rich earth tones, texture, and light invite the eye to linger on the varied, portrait-style compositions. Not just for faithful homes, this is a book that can spark conversations about Black history from a strengths-based lens, with culture and coping as the focus. Brief notes discuss the figures and topics referenced in the main text, and an author’s note explains the importance of spirituals to the culture and to Weatherford personally. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Gorgeous and enlightening, nourishing both mind and soul. (online resources) (Historical picture book. 4-10)Pub Date: Sept. 20, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-30634-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2022
A charming friendship story and great setup for future books.
Curious about the Big Wide World outside his Sasquatch community, Hugo makes a friend who is of it.
Sasquatch Hugo’s bedroom is inside a cave and possesses the charming feature of a small stream running through it that he can sail his little toy boat on. It’s cool, but he yearns to see the Big Wide World. When he asks his smart friend Gigi if a Sasquatch might become a sailor, she says it’s possible but would be difficult—the primary rule of their people is to not be seen by Humans. Then, in everyone’s favorite Hide and Go Sneak class, which is held outside, a Human appears; Hugo laughs at the sight, drawing Human attention in a taboo-breaking mistake. Shortly after, Hugo’s toy boat floats into the cave with a Human toy—soon, it’s facilitating a pen-pal–type relationship that’s derailed when Hugo confesses to being a Sasquatch and Human Boone, a budding cryptozoologist, doesn’t believe him. How Hugo and Boone resolve this misapprehension and become friends in a joint search for the Ogopogo concludes this series opener. Potter keeps the third-person narrative tightly focused on Hugo’s perspective, and the details she uses to flesh out the Sasquatch world are delightfully playful. Sala’s drawings depict a homey Sasquatch cavern community, Boone as a freckled, white boy, and Hugo as a hairily benevolent behemoth.
A charming friendship story and great setup for future books. (final art unseen) (Fantasy. 5-9)Pub Date: April 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4197-2859-4
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2018
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.
How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!
John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists. (Picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: March 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-56727-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
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