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IF I COULD CHOOSE A BEST DAY

Name: IF I COULD CHOOSE A BEST DAY
Author: Irene Latham
ISBN: 9781536219791

POEMS OF POSSIBILITY

edited by Irene Latham & Charles Waters ; illustrated by Olivia Sua ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 4, 2025

A fresh, appealing anthology that celebrates the freedom inherent in possibility.

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Thirty-one poets contemplate all that the word if might portend.

In addition to drawing from previously published works, the anthologists issued an open call for submissions. First-time published poets appear alongside Emily Dickinson, Nikki Grimes, Joseph Bruchac, Janet Wong, and more. The unifying theme yields ruminations both sky-high and intimately observed. The work opens with Latham and Waters’ poem “Welcome,” followed by 29 entries divided into four sections. Amy Ludwig VanDerwater suggests that learning the name, markings, and song of “just one bird” can be transformative. “You will feel big and small at once / if you learn the name of just one bird.” Two poems examine youngsters’ nighttime fears in distinct ways. Siv Cedering’s “If a Bad Dream Comes” reimagines the child’s bed as a protective house, while Teresa Owens Smith’s “Opening Windows” urges an expansive reaction to sleeplessness: “Search the dark sea of the night sky. / Your dreams are hiding there. / …Grab the stars and let moonlight dance inside you.” Lacresha Berry harnesses powerful, self-affirming imagery: “If I imagine / sunlight made me / my soul soars / like a blackbird / chirping in celebration / of my midnight wings / without anyone / telling me / I am too dark / to be related / to the sun.” Sua’s charming mixed-media illustrations, which make wonderful use of collage, echo and extend the poets’ imagery, depicting oft-joyous children with varied skin tones and hair textures.

A fresh, appealing anthology that celebrates the freedom inherent in possibility. (editors’ note, copyright acknowledgments) (Poetry. 6-9)

Pub Date: March 4, 2025

ISBN: 9781536219791

Page Count: 64

Publisher: Candlewick

Review Posted Online: Nov. 9, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2024

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S POETRY

- BOOK REVIEW
WATER DAY
by Margarita Engle ; illustrated by Olivia Sua

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THE LITTLE BOOK OF JOY

by Dalai Lama & Desmond Tutu ; illustrated by Rafael López ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 27, 2022

Hundreds of pages of unbridled uplift boiled down to 40.

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From two Nobel Peace Prize winners, an invitation to look past sadness and loneliness to the joy that surrounds us.

Bobbing in the wake of 2016’s heavyweight Book of Joy (2016), this brief but buoyant address to young readers offers an earnest insight: “If you just focus on the thing that is making / you sad, then the sadness is all you see. / But if you look around, you will / see that joy is everywhere.” López expands the simply delivered proposal in fresh and lyrical ways—beginning with paired scenes of the authors as solitary children growing up in very different circumstances on (as they put it) “opposite sides of the world,” then meeting as young friends bonded by streams of rainbow bunting and going on to share their exuberantly hued joy with a group of dancers diverse in terms of age, race, culture, and locale while urging readers to do the same. Though on the whole this comes off as a bit bland (the banter and hilarity that characterized the authors’ recorded interchanges are absent here) and their advice just to look away from the sad things may seem facile in view of what too many children are inescapably faced with, still, it’s hard to imagine anyone in the world more qualified to deliver such a message than these two. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Hundreds of pages of unbridled uplift boiled down to 40. (Picture book. 6-8)

Pub Date: Sept. 27, 2022

ISBN: 978-0-593-48423-4

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Crown

Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2022

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S HEALTH & DAILY LIVING

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DEAR RUBY, HEAR OUR HEARTS

by Ruby Bridges ; illustrated by John Jay Cabuay ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 2, 2024

Anemic messages of hope from an iconic activist.

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Civil rights legend Bridges encourages young people to persevere.

After becoming the face of school integration at just 6 years old, Bridges continued to further her legacy by visiting schools across the U.S. Over the past 25 years, she has received letters from thousands of students with “ideas and concerns that ran deeper than we grown-ups gave them credit for.” In her latest book for kids, Bridges responds to notes from children grappling with political and social crises, including anti-Asian racism, climate change, and gun violence. The issues that matter to young Americans come alive in Cabuay’s energetic illustrations, which make deft use of color and texture. On one spread, a short, brown-skinned child named Tala, bullied for being short, strides confidently down a school hallway past classmates who whisper and laugh. In the accompanying letter, Tala talks about drawing strength from Bridges’ bravery; Bridges’ reply emphasizes that “it’s okay to be different because what really matters is your heart and what’s inside!” The correspondences are brief, barely skimming the surface, and Bridges’ messages are too general to have a genuine impact. Backmatter, which includes a glossary with pronunciation guides, is helpful but does little to connect Bridges’ historic contributions to the issues young people are facing today. This picture book’s superficial discussion of important topics doesn’t live up to Bridges’ advocacy or Cabuay’s dynamic art.

Anemic messages of hope from an iconic activist. (more information on Bridges) (Picture book. 6-9)