Proof that big dreams can lead to big changes and important progress.
American Reform Judaism’s founder dreamed big.
Isaac Mayer Wise, born in Bohemia in 1819, loved studying and began rabbinical training at age 16. At university he learned different languages and studied music, literature, science, and other religions. In ensuing years, Isaac married, was ordained, then headed his own synagogue, where congregants disagreed with his nontraditional ideas that women and girls deserved equal treatment in synagogues and Jewish schools and that families should worship together. Isaac believed America would welcome new ideas about Judaism, so in 1846 he and his family sailed to New York. At the time, there were few trained rabbis in the United States. Leading congregations in first Albany, then Cincinnati, Isaac promoted modernization. He believed Jews should adapt older practices to the modern world and accept the coexistence of science and religion. Isaac started a Jewish newspaper and published novels and plays featuring Jewish characters and themes. More Jews embraced his forward-thinking ideas. He built a bigger synagogue and a rabbinical college open to young women (though women wouldn’t be ordained until years later). This straightforward, well-written life of a visionary whose work continues to inspire will resonate with many. The colorful illustrations, featuring a fiery-haired Isaac, have a delicate, folkloric look. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Proof that big dreams can lead to big changes and important progress. (author’s note, timeline) (Informational picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2023
ISBN: 9781728467931
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kar-Ben
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2023
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
An inspiring introduction to the young Nobel Peace Prize winner and a useful conversation starter.
The latest of many picture books about the young heroine from Pakistan, this one is narrated by Malala herself, with a frame that is accessible to young readers.
Malala introduces her story using a television show she used to watch about a boy with a magic pencil that he used to get himself and his friends out of trouble. Readers can easily follow Malala through her own discovery of troubles in her beloved home village, such as other children not attending school and soldiers taking over the village. Watercolor-and-ink illustrations give a strong sense of setting, while gold ink designs overlay Malala’s hopes onto her often dreary reality. The story makes clear Malala’s motivations for taking up the pen to tell the world about the hardships in her village and only alludes to the attempt on her life, with a black page (“the dangerous men tried to silence me. / But they failed”) and a hospital bracelet on her wrist the only hints of the harm that came to her. Crowds with signs join her call before she is shown giving her famous speech before the United Nations. Toward the end of the book, adult readers may need to help children understand Malala’s “work,” but the message of holding fast to courage and working together is powerful and clear.
An inspiring introduction to the young Nobel Peace Prize winner and a useful conversation starter. (Picture book/memoir. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 17, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-316-31957-7
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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