A moderate success.
Small children learning and playing are juxtaposed with adults changing history.
Children say first words, take first steps, stack blocks, and write the alphabet. Older people walk on the moon, build historic landmarks like the Statue of Liberty, and write letters to the president to effect change. Children jump and leap and sing, adults record “We Are the World” to benefit world hunger, and Misty Copeland becomes the American Ballet Theater’s first African American principal ballerina. The children’s activities are narrated in a simple first-person-plural voice, easy to read aloud with little ones. The corresponding historical events and profiles are written in a more expository style better suited for older readers. While both storylines are worth reading, the combination makes the read-aloud experience less than smooth, although creative workarounds (like having children read the children’s parts and adults read the nonfiction parts) are possible. The adult achievements celebrated are progressive and diverse: Colin Kaepernick’s protest, Brazil’s Pride parade, Native American Code Talkers, and the AIDS Memorial Quilt are included, along with the Wright brothers, female Supreme Court justices, Mister Rogers, and the moon landing. Ali’s joyful illustrations successfully convey continuity between the children’s activities and the actions that changed history, infusing the narrative with an energy the text sorely needs to carry readers through. Endnotes provide further details about the events and individuals mentioned in the text. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-17-inch double-page spreads viewed at 69.4% of actual size.)
A moderate success. (timeline, notes, bibliography, resources) (Informational picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-291685-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A supplemental rather than introductory book on the great artist.
Frida Kahlo’s strong affection for and identification with animals form the lens through which readers view her life and work in this picture-book biography.
Each two-page spread introduces one or more of her pets, comparing her characteristics to theirs and adding biographical details. Confusingly for young readers, the beginning pages reference pets she owned as an adult, yet the illustrations and events referred to come from earlier in her life. Bonito the parrot perches in a tree overlooking young Frida and her family in her childhood home and pops up again later, just before the first mention of Diego Rivera. Granizo, the fawn, another pet from her adult years, is pictured beside a young Frida and her father along with a description of “her life as a little girl.” The author’s note adds important details about Kahlo’s life and her significance as an artist, as well as recommending specific paintings that feature her beloved animals. Expressive acrylic paintings expertly evoke Kahlo’s style and color palette. While young animal lovers will identify with her attachment to her pets and may enjoy learning about the Aztec origins of her Xolo dogs and the meaning of turkeys in ancient Mexico, the book may be of most interest to those who already have an interest in Kahlo’s life.
A supplemental rather than introductory book on the great artist. (Picture book/biography. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-7358-4269-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: NorthSouth
Review Posted Online: June 18, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A unique angle on a watershed moment in the civil rights era.
The New Orleans school child who famously broke the color line in 1960 while surrounded by federal marshals describes the early days of her experience from a 6-year-old’s perspective.
Bridges told her tale to younger children in 2009’s Ruby Bridges Goes to School, but here the sensibility is more personal, and the sometimes-shocking historical photos have been replaced by uplifting painted scenes. “I didn’t find out what being ‘the first’ really meant until the day I arrived at this new school,” she writes. Unfrightened by the crowd of “screaming white people” that greets her at the school’s door (she thinks it’s like Mardi Gras) but surprised to find herself the only child in her classroom, and even the entire building, she gradually realizes the significance of her act as (in Smith’s illustration) she compares a small personal photo to the all-White class photos posted on a bulletin board and sees the difference. As she reflects on her new understanding, symbolic scenes first depict other dark-skinned children marching into classes in her wake to friendly greetings from lighter-skinned classmates (“School is just school,” she sensibly concludes, “and kids are just kids”) and finally an image of the bright-eyed icon posed next to a soaring bridge of reconciliation. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A unique angle on a watershed moment in the civil rights era. (author and illustrator notes, glossary) (Autobiographical picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-338-75388-2
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Orchard/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2022
PERSPECTIVES
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