Too much fairy tale and too little biography.
The story of groundbreaking animator Lotte Reiniger.
“Long before a cartoon mouse, / Or Snow White found a little house, / There was a girl named Charlotte.” No geography or dates are noted—this White girl named Lotte could be growing up anywhere. Lotte loves cinema; it’s magic to her. She wants to create it herself. Using scissors, paper, and string, she snips out fairy-tale puppets—“Cinderella, always sweeping. / A beauty in a castle, sleeping”—and, with a camera, a lamp, and a pane of glass, she invents a form of stop-motion animation. Reiniger becomes a groundbreaking artist and filmmaker. Carr’s artwork echoes Reiniger’s style, highlighting crisp, black silhouettes. Hartman tucks rhyming verse between unrhymed lines, making for an awkward read-aloud: “At last, Lotte was ready for the cinema. / Ready for magic! / Her paper puppets danced and swayed. / Music played a serenade. / Lights wink-wink-winked.” A single illustration of Reiniger’s multiplane camera doesn’t explain its workings (backmatter does); disappointingly, Reiniger is framed more as magic-maker than brilliant artist and technician. Even her obstacles are fairy-tale–like: “A man rose up in Lotte’s land. / With twisted words, he clenched his hand / And made demands / That he command / All magic.” That “man” is Hitler—someone wanting to command more than, um, magic?—but he, the Nazis, and World War II aren’t identified until the backmatter.
Too much fairy tale and too little biography. (author’s note, artist’s note, timeline of films, bibliography) (Picture book/biography. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 20, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-62414-941-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Page Street
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A brief but sweet snapshot of an inspiring girl who finds hope in song.
Through the power of music, Lucimarian Tolliver is reminded of what’s important.
Lucy is one of the only children of African descent on her block—called Lucy Street—in 1930s Akron, Ohio, but all her neighbors share one commonality: poverty. Lucy’s carefree spirit is dampened when her family’s furniture is repossessed one day. She visits her grandfather, who comforts her by singing the folk standard “This Little Light of Mine.” Grandpa tells Lucy that she’s destined for greatness and that she should never stop singing, even through life’s toughest moments. Back at home, Lucy’s father scolds her for singing at the dinner table, so she quickly finishes eating and wanders outside and sings into the night. Her voice reaches her family and neighbors, who are all touched by her song. Digital illustrations evoke the time period in muted tones, featuring endearing characters with simple yet expressive features. The visual subject matter is repetitive from page to page, as are the incorporated lyrics of “This Little Light of Mine.” Based on Lucimarian Tolliver’s experiences growing up during the Depression, the text contains an epilogue but lacks backmatter detailing historical context or more information about Lucy’s life. Though the themes of optimism and the importance of family, faith, and music shine through the text, readers may be left with more questions than answers.
A brief but sweet snapshot of an inspiring girl who finds hope in song. (Picture-book biography. 5-7)Pub Date: May 20, 2025
ISBN: 9780063222540
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
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
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
