Will inspire young readers to stay true to themselves.
Ernest “Ernie” Barnes was teased for his love for art and indifference to sports; despite this, Ernie found a way to satisfy his love of art and stop the teasing.
This biography begins with Barnes’ early life in segregated Durham, North Carolina, where he was singled out by classmates for his lack of athletic ability. In junior high, Barnes joined his school’s football team but later quit. In high school, coaches recruited Barnes due to his size, and after taking up weight training, he became a powerhouse player. His incredible talent on the field led to college scholarships and, eventually, spots on several pro teams. At the end of his athletic career, Barnes decided to return to art full time and held his first art show while employed as an artist for the New York Jets. Barnes’ paintings were featured in art shows across the country and appeared on the TV show Good Times, a show Barnes also appeared on and that young Tate watched regularly. Via quotations, Tate weaves Barnes’ own voice into his smoothly told narrative, to great effect. Tate’s illustrations are a bit of a departure from his characteristic style, using matte surfaces and collage to evoke Barnes’ times. A scene of Barnes in uniform, sketching on the sidelines, says it all. A conversational afterword and author’s note flesh out Barnes’ life and describe Tate’s process. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Will inspire young readers to stay true to themselves. (source notes, bibliography) (Picture book/biography. 5-8)Pub Date: Aug. 17, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4197-4943-8
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2021
A unique angle on a watershed moment in the civil rights era.
The New Orleans school child who famously broke the color line in 1960 while surrounded by federal marshals describes the early days of her experience from a 6-year-old’s perspective.
Bridges told her tale to younger children in 2009’s Ruby Bridges Goes to School, but here the sensibility is more personal, and the sometimes-shocking historical photos have been replaced by uplifting painted scenes. “I didn’t find out what being ‘the first’ really meant until the day I arrived at this new school,” she writes. Unfrightened by the crowd of “screaming white people” that greets her at the school’s door (she thinks it’s like Mardi Gras) but surprised to find herself the only child in her classroom, and even the entire building, she gradually realizes the significance of her act as (in Smith’s illustration) she compares a small personal photo to the all-White class photos posted on a bulletin board and sees the difference. As she reflects on her new understanding, symbolic scenes first depict other dark-skinned children marching into classes in her wake to friendly greetings from lighter-skinned classmates (“School is just school,” she sensibly concludes, “and kids are just kids”) and finally an image of the bright-eyed icon posed next to a soaring bridge of reconciliation. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A unique angle on a watershed moment in the civil rights era. (author and illustrator notes, glossary) (Autobiographical picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-338-75388-2
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Orchard/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2022
PERSPECTIVES
Blandly inspirational fare made to evoke equally shrink-wrapped responses.
An NBA star pays tribute to the influence of his grandfather.
In the same vein as his Long Shot (2009), illustrated by Frank Morrison, this latest from Paul prioritizes values and character: “My granddad Papa Chilly had dreams that came true,” he writes, “so maybe if I listen and watch him, / mine will too.” So it is that the wide-eyed Black child in the simply drawn illustrations rises early to get to the playground hoops before anyone else, watches his elder working hard and respecting others, hears him cheering along with the rest of the family from the stands during games, and recalls in a prose afterword that his grandfather wasn’t one to lecture but taught by example. Paul mentions in both the text and the backmatter that Papa Chilly was the first African American to own a service station in North Carolina (his presumed dream) but not that he was killed in a robbery, which has the effect of keeping the overall tone positive and the instructional content one-dimensional. Figures in the pictures are mostly dark-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Blandly inspirational fare made to evoke equally shrink-wrapped responses. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Jan. 10, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-250-81003-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
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