A great introduction to an architect, a feminist, and a leader who showed the world the impossible. (Picture book/biography....
An introduction for young readers focuses on the architect’s journey and how she became the “Queen of Curve.”
Readers are introduced to “little Zaha,” a “Muslim girl who lived with her family in Baghdad,” and learn that at 7 she was designing clothes. Sánchez Vegara leads readers through Zaha’s childhood and adulthood, covering her schooling, favorite subjects, and how she became the woman who experimented and dared to change architecture. Amar’s illustrations are simple, bright, and colorful, portraying Zaha in a space mostly occupied by men. Little details such as the letters “ZH” on construction helmets worn by men listening to Zaha’s project plan emphasize her role as a leader. When Sánchez Vegara points out that Zaha “changed the way that people thought about women—especially an Arab woman—in an industry run by men,” Amar dedicates a spread that draws attention to Zaha’s status with a wall of portraits of notable architects in which she is the only woman. Like other titles in the series, this one ends with more facts on Zaha and her family along with four black-and-white photos taken at different points in her life and suggested titles for further reading. Series companion Mary Shelley, also by Sánchez Vegara but illustrated by Yelena Bryksenkova, publishes simultaneously.
A great introduction to an architect, a feminist, and a leader who showed the world the impossible. (Picture book/biography. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-78603-745-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Frances Lincoln
Review Posted Online: July 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2019
Enticing and eco-friendly.
Why and how to make a rain garden.
Having watched through their classroom window as a “rooftop-rushing, gutter-gushing” downpour sloppily flooded their streets and playground, several racially diverse young children follow their tan-skinned teacher outside to lay out a shallow drainage ditch beneath their school’s downspout, which leads to a patch of ground, where they plant flowers (“native ones with tough, thick roots,” Schaub specifies) to absorb the “mucky runoff” and, in time, draw butterflies and other wildlife. The author follows up her lilting rhyme with more detailed explanations of a rain garden’s function and construction, including a chart to help determine how deep to make the rain garden and a properly cautionary note about locating a site’s buried utility lines before starting to dig; she concludes with a set of leads to online information sources. Gómez goes more for visual appeal than realism. In her scenes, a group of smiling, round-headed, very small children in rain gear industriously lay large stones along a winding border with little apparent effort; nevertheless, her images of the little ones planting generic flowers that are tall and lush just a page turn later do make the outdoorsy project look like fun.
Enticing and eco-friendly. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: March 12, 2024
ISBN: 9781324052357
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Norton Young Readers
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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