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BROS

Name: BROS
Author: Carole Boston Weatherford
ISBN: 9781536220414

by Carole Boston Weatherford ; illustrated by Reggie Brown ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 12, 2024

Delightful.

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Five young Black boys come together for a day of ecstatic play at the park.

The rose-painted landscape of sunrise greets readers as this book opens on three friends meeting in the morning quiet of a playground. After the kids enjoy a rollicking wagon ride and build an imaginary time machine, two more friends join the group, and the five play pretend, explore a garden, visit the library, shoot hoops, and have adventures until the sun goes down. Weatherford’s spare, subject-verb text captures Brown’s vibrant spreads (or perhaps it’s the other way round) in a heartbeat of rhyme: “Bros dare. We care. We speak. We geek. We lead. We read.” Brown’s soft but textured illustrations feel fresh and open, with all the energy of cartoon callbacks and the spontaneity of playground fun. The crew of bros represent an array of melanin in rich shades of brown; they’re also diverse in terms of body type and ability, to say nothing of the fresh cuts and fly natural styles atop their heads. The text lends itself to rhythmic storytimes, first-time forays into solo reading, and even some sight-word practice. But more than this, this book’s significance is the simple, uninterrupted joy and shared belonging present in each of the spaces the group of five chooses to be—a liberation that Black boys can’t always find outside (or indeed within) a book’s pages.

Delightful. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: March 12, 2024

ISBN: 9781536220414

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Candlewick

Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2024

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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WHIRLIGIGS
by Carole Boston Weatherford ; illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham

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HAIR LIKE OBAMA'S, HANDS LIKE LEBRON'S
by Carole Boston Weatherford ; illustrated by Savanna Durr

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CROWNING GLORY
by Carole Boston Weatherford illustrated by Ekua Holmes

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THE WORLD NEEDS THE WONDER YOU SEE

by Joanna Gaines ; illustrated by Julianna Swaney ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 28, 2025

Handy advice for perpetually inquisitive children.

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Interior decorator and TV personality Gaines invites readers to open their eyes and exercise their imaginations.

There’s a world to be explored out there—and only children can really take part. What does “looking for wonder” entail? Slowing down and looking up, around, and everywhere. At the outset, a group of eager, racially diverse young friends—including one who uses a wheelchair—are fully prepared for a grand adventure. They offer tips about how and where to look: Why, there’s a “grand parade” of marching ants! And, these kids add, perspective is key. A rainy day might signal gloom to some, but to those filled with wonder, showers bring “magic puddles for play”; a forest is “an enchanted world,” the ocean conceals “a spectacular city,” and the night sky boasts “extraordinary sights.” The takeaway: “Wonder is never in short supply.” It’s a robust, empowering message, as is the exhortation to “keep your mind open, and let curiosity guide the way.” Youngsters are also advised to share their discoveries. The upbeat narrative is delivered in clunky verse, but the colorful cartoonish illustrations brimming with activity and good cheer (including some adorable anthropomorphized animals in the backgrounds) make up for the textual lapses and should motivate readers to embark on their own “wonder explorations.”

Handy advice for perpetually inquisitive children. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: Jan. 28, 2025

ISBN: 9781400247417

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Tommy Nelson

Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
THE WORLD NEEDS WHO YOU WERE MADE TO BE
by Joanna Gaines ; illustrated by Julianna Swaney

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.

The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)