A broadly inclusive invitation to crawl over our country’s history, natural and otherwise…and maybe dig a little deeper.
An oversized board book with an animal, vehicle, food, activity, and local celebration for each state—capped by a jigsaw-puzzle map.
The first five double-page spreads are laid out as brightly colored alphabetical grids, with a single fact and explanatory comment, plus accompanying cartoon image, in each state’s assigned box. Rather than go with “official” selections, Balkan makes her own: the opening gallery of wildlife, for instance, begins with bottlenose dolphin for Alabama (“These social animals can be found in Perdido Bay”), closes with moose for Wyoming, and in between highlights creatures including the Highland cow for Minnesota, the “rare and sacred” white buffalo for North Dakota, and the great white shark for New Jersey. Along with a proper note that many of these animals are found in other states too, Balkan challenges viewers to pick out the ones that fly, that swim, and that are legendary or extinct. From there it’s on to “50 Things That Go,” 50 foodstuffs (including “tagine treats” for Maryland), 50 ways to “Get Moving,” and festivals—many with immigrant or Native American connections (the selection of Georgia’s Uncle Remus Museum in this last category is something of a misstep). The easy-peasy jigsaw of all the states together is both laid down over a labeled image and comes with a visual key showing the states' silhouettes.
A broadly inclusive invitation to crawl over our country’s history, natural and otherwise…and maybe dig a little deeper. (Novelty board book. 4-8)Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-84780-869-1
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Wide Eyed Editions
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2016
Uplifting.
Clark-Robinson celebrates the ways in which women have opened doors for the girls and women coming after them.
Two women, one elderly and one younger, sit a girl down with tea and photographs to tell her stories of how “our mothers and all those who’ve gone before, / paved a freer path and opened a wider door.” The walls of this Black family’s home are covered in framed photographs of diverse historical and contemporary women who made their marks in the worlds of art, sports, politics, and more. As the women encourage the girl to “speak [the] names” of those who came before and recognize that they stand on the shoulders of those women, the art transitions from their home to full spreads showing the heroes in action. Toward the end, as the text repeats praise for the women leaders, the art shows the family framing a photograph of themselves and hanging it on the wall, placing them in the line of strong women as the question is posed to the girl: “Who will stand on YOURS?” Many of the icons in the images will be recognizable to informed readers, overlaying the text’s general message onto specific examples of excellence. Backmatter provides a sentence introducing each figure beneath her portrait, offering an opportunity for readers to “speak their names.” Though perhaps overly hopeful in its depiction of women’s unity across racial lines, this book achieves the effect of an intergenerational embrace. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-16-inch double-page spreads viewed at 22.2% of actual size.)
Uplifting. (author’s note, illustrator’s note) (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-338-35800-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Orchard/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
Successful neither as biography nor sermon.
Our 16th president is presented as an activist for human and civil rights.
Lincoln resembles a doll with an oversized head as he strides through a first-person narrative that stretches the limits of credulity and usefulness. From childhood, Abe, bearded and sporting a stovepipe hat, loves to read, write and look out for animals. He stands up to bullies, noting that “the hardest fights don’t reveal a winner—but they do reveal character.” He sees slaves, and the sight haunts him. When the Civil War begins, he calls it a struggle to end slavery. Not accurate. The text further calls the Gettysburg ceremonies a “big event” designed to “reenergize” Union supporters and states that the Emancipation Proclamation “freed all those people.” Not accurate. The account concludes with a homily to “speak louder then you’ve ever spoken before,” as Lincoln holds the Proclamation in his hands. Eliopoulos’ comic-style digital art uses speech bubbles for conversational asides. A double-page spread depicts Lincoln, Confederate soldiers, Union soldiers, white folk and African-American folk walking arm in arm: an anachronistic reference to civil rights–era protest marches? An unsourced quotation from Lincoln may not actually be Lincoln’s words.
Successful neither as biography nor sermon. (photographs, archival illustration) (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Jan. 14, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-8037-4083-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 19, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2013
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