With spare text and gorgeous illustrations, this work represents a unique and engaging perspective on enslaved families.
A girl’s family life and plantation routines are interrupted when three enslaved boys run away.
Most days start the same way: The bell rings, Daddy collects wood, Mama prepares breakfast, they eat together. The narrator’s brother, Ben, her parents, and the other slaves go to the fields while the girl stays with the young ones to play. On Wednesday, Ben surprises her with a handmade doll. On Thursday, Ben and his two friends are gone. There are tears; the narrator’s parents are beaten, and other slaves look mad or sad. On Friday, the girl cannot eat or talk. On Saturday, there are horses and dogs; Ben’s friends have been caught, but there is no sign of Ben. “Out comes the whip. / All night we cry and pray for Ben.” On Sunday, Big Sam preaches near the creek, “of being free. / We sing. / We hope. / We pray / Ben made it. / Free like the birds. / Free like Moses. / No more bells.” The final spread shows the girl looking out, with the single word “Monday…” and a bird flying away on the endpaper. The richly textured paintings make masterful use of light and space to create the narrator’s world and interior life, from the glimmer of dawn as her father chops wood to her mother’s fatigue and her own knowing eyes. Ransome’s free-verse text is as accomplished as his glowing acrylics.
With spare text and gorgeous illustrations, this work represents a unique and engaging perspective on enslaved families. (author’s note) (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Jan. 15, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4424-2113-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Caitlyn Dlouhy/Atheneum
Review Posted Online: Sept. 29, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Being kind and helpful lights up the day from within in this inspiring and idyllic slice-of-life tale.
Actor, social media star, and entrepreneur Brown pens a joyful paean to positive thinking in her children’s debut.
Brown-skinned Tab rides a strawberry-themed bike, accompanied by a curly-haired black dog, Grady. Tab’s dazzling smile and wide eyes signal the upbeat theme echoed in the text, celebrating the sun’s warmth, which “fills everyone up with joy.” But Tab’s mood shifts, as it’s a “cloudy and gray” June day. Alert readers will spot the dog’s smiling countenance and note glimpses of sunny yellow butterflies and flowers. Mama’s reassurance that there’s “always a chance” for sunshine also underscores the optimism. Tab and Grady bike through suburban streets “to find the sun.” Along the way, the two stop to assist a neighbor building a birdhouse, loft a kite for friends Frankie and Fonte, and lend a hand to others, all while still having fun. Mama steers Tab toward an eventual understanding of the real source of joy: Though the sun didn’t appear, “I brightened everyone’s day!” The illustrations subtly underscore the message of this radiant story as touches of gold lighten the palette, which ends with sunny brilliance. Most characters read Black, though Tab’s community includes people who vary in skin tone, body type, and ability.
Being kind and helpful lights up the day from within in this inspiring and idyllic slice-of-life tale. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: March 11, 2025
ISBN: 9780063342262
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 21, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2025
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...
Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.
The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 21, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
