Individual details form a warm and inclusive, though scattered, view of humanity.
Four authors tell their stories, not just of the places they lived, but of the history, culture, and spirit of their beings: where they truly come from.
Initially, when describing humanity’s commonalities, this poetic text begins, “We come from…” (stardust and single-celled organisms, etc.). Then the refrain becomes, “I come from…” for the remainder of the book, with the authors each sharing aspects of their own backgrounds. The four authors represent a diverse array of experiences (Wilson is Dakota, Shin is Korean American, Gibney is Black and Irish American, and Coy is Irish and Scottish American), describing places, folklore, history, and personal memories that range from painful to joyous, taking turns in fixed order without using names. Digital illustrations represent both the historical and spiritual aspects of the text, but many of the human figures lack details and don’t engage emotionally. It’s a tall order: Some pages address sweeping historical contexts, such as the European slave trade, while others mention specific details, such as Native American boarding schools or the Korean invention of movable type. Readers may be distracted by tracking which author is speaking, as the book offers neither clear delineations of voice nor a comprehensive cohesion of content and style. Rather, what emerges is a quilt of many details that gives the reader less a feeling of understanding one person than a sense of the rich tapestry that is America. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Individual details form a warm and inclusive, though scattered, view of humanity. (more information about where the authors come from, pronunciation guide, further reading, bibliography) (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5415-9612-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Carolrhoda
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2022
A well-meaning but lackluster tribute.
Readers bid farewell to a beloved canine character.
Momo is—or was—an adorable and very photogenic border collie owned by author Knapp. The many readers who loved him in the previous half-dozen books are in for a shock with this one. “Momo had died” is the stark reality—and there are no photographs of him here. Instead, Momo has been replaced by a flat cartoonish pastiche with strange, staring round white eyes, inserted into some of Knapp’s photography (which remains appealing, insofar as it can be discerned under the mixed media). Previous books contained few or no words. Unfortunately, virtuosity behind a lens does not guarantee mastery of verse. The art here is accompanied by words that sometimes rhyme but never find a workable or predictable rhythm (“We’d fetch and we’d catch, / we’d run and we’d jump. Every day we found new / games to play”). It’s a pity, because the subject—a pet’s death—is an important one to address with children. Of course, Momo isn’t gone; he can still be found “everywhere” in memories. But alas, he can be found here only in the crude depictions of the darling dog so well known from the earlier books.
A well-meaning but lackluster tribute. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781683693864
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Quirk Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet and endearing feathered migration.
A relationship between a Latina grandmother and her mixed-race granddaughter serves as the frame to depict the ruby-throated hummingbird migration pattern.
In Granny’s lap, a girl is encouraged to “keep still” as the intergenerational pair awaits the ruby-throated hummingbirds with bowls of water in their hands. But like the granddaughter, the tz’unun—“the word for hummingbird in several [Latin American] languages”—must soon fly north. Over the next several double-page spreads, readers follow the ruby-throated hummingbird’s migration pattern from Central America and Mexico through the United States all the way to Canada. Davies metaphorically reunites the granddaughter and grandmother when “a visitor from Granny’s garden” crosses paths with the girl in New York City. Ray provides delicately hashed lines in the illustrations that bring the hummingbirds’ erratic flight pattern to life as they travel north. The watercolor palette is injected with vibrancy by the addition of gold ink, mirroring the hummingbirds’ flashing feathers in the slants of light. The story is supplemented by notes on different pages with facts about the birds such as their nest size, diet, and flight schedule. In addition, a note about ruby-throated hummingbirds supplies readers with detailed information on how ornithologists study and keep track of these birds.
A sweet and endearing feathered migration. (bibliography, index) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: May 7, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5362-0538-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
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