A moving work from a legend of children’s literature and a testament to his legacy of visual storytelling.
The late Caldecott medalist Pinkney shares the childhood experiences that put him on the path to greatness.
Young Jerry grew up on a nurturing, all-Black block in Philadelphia in the 1940s and ’50s; his large family and circle of friends were crucial to his development as an artist, especially as he struggled with dyslexia. Jerry’s grandfather worked at a pencil factory, so Jerry was always able to draw whatever caught his imagination. His father took him along on home-repair jobs, showing Jerry the value of hard work. School was difficult, but his teacher Mrs. Miller helped him find ways to incorporate his drawing into his schoolwork. Jerry and his friends faced de facto segregation, and Jerry longed for experiences that were out of reach. A part-time job selling newspapers led to a chance meeting with cartoonist John Liney, and a visit to his studio offered a glimpse of what it would be like to be a working artist. This memoir, which was largely completed at the time of Pinkney’s death in 2021, provides important insight into one of children’s literature’s most prolific illustrators. Intimate and conversational in tone, the narrative is warm and inviting. The importance of family and community and Pinkney’s determination are strong themes throughout. The powerful text is accompanied by sketches that enhance the tale (an editor’s note states that Pinkney had planned to flesh those sketches out into elaborate drawings).
A moving work from a legend of children’s literature and a testament to his legacy of visual storytelling. (timeline) (Memoir. 8-12)Pub Date: Jan. 17, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-316-38385-1
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2022
With young readers diagnosed with anxiety in ever increasing numbers, this book offers a necessary mirror to many.
Young Raina is 9 when she throws up for the first time that she remembers, due to a stomach bug. Even a year later, when she is in fifth grade, she fears getting sick.
Raina begins having regular stomachaches that keep her home from school. She worries about sharing food with her friends and eating certain kinds of foods, afraid of getting sick or food poisoning. Raina’s mother enrolls her in therapy. At first Raina isn’t sure about seeing a therapist, but over time she develops healthy coping mechanisms to deal with her stress and anxiety. Her therapist helps her learn to ground herself and relax, and in turn she teaches her classmates for a school project. Amping up the green, wavy lines to evoke Raina’s nausea, Telgemeier brilliantly produces extremely accurate visual representations of stress and anxiety. Thought bubbles surround Raina in some panels, crowding her with anxious “what if”s, while in others her negative self-talk appears to be literally crushing her. Even as she copes with anxiety disorder and what is eventually diagnosed as mild irritable bowel syndrome, she experiences the typical stresses of school life, going from cheer to panic in the blink of an eye. Raina is white, and her classmates are diverse; one best friend is Korean American.
With young readers diagnosed with anxiety in ever increasing numbers, this book offers a necessary mirror to many. (Graphic memoir. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-545-85251-7
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 11, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2019
A variety show brimming with esoteric and practical information.
Two youngsters embark on a journey peppered with history, trivia, and skits while teaching money lessons.
Meet Mellody and John, the young stars of this currency showcase. Their very first dialogue offers a taste of the intriguing information to come, from the ancient Mayans’ use of cacao beans as payment to the origins of the piggy bank. The book offers a chronologically and geographically broad timeline of the history of money, encompassing the past 3.9 billion years (starting with meteorite crashes that scattered metals—“the very first bank deposit”) and referencing practices across five continents. Readers will find themselves eagerly sharing the facts gleaned here, including the centuries-old origins of terms and expressions still used today. Mellody and John’s fun banter crucially reflects their experiences with money, such as their families’ differing attitudes toward allowances. Both are savers as well as givers, sharing stories about giving to charity. In one especially entertaining section, a cat and a bunny converse in money-related catchphrases that are separately defined at the bottom of each page. Stevens’ watercolors are appropriately realistic and appealing, whether depicting Mellody’s pretend bank or Elizabeth II’s butler ironing a 10-pound note. Messages about money’s use as a means to an end, rather than an end in itself, ensure that readers will think about their own purposes for their savings. Mellody and John are Black.
A variety show brimming with esoteric and practical information. (index) (Nonfiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9781536224719
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
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