A beautifully bold dedication to Black greatness.
A celebration of Pan-African achievement that spans much of the continent and its pre-colonial history.
In this tribute to Africa before the trans-Atlantic slave trade, Bradley relies on vivid digital illustrations to highlight brightly textured indigo seas, lush scenes of regal leaders striking commanding poses as giraffes roam nearby, and warm, high-rising structures of worship. The accompanying narration uses prose and verse to superb effect to establish imagery of emerging civilizations, thriving communities, and wondrous accomplishments. Centering an audience of brown readers, Oso emphasizes that “in Africa, we were royalty, / reigning, ruling entire empires. / Kings and queens of great renown / in shades of brown—just like you.” Bradley imbues each movement with a gentle intimacy, whether depicting great warriors of Carthage and Kush, griots passing down stories, or youngsters sketching constellations in the sands of the Sahara, “our magical minds uncovering the mysteries of the galaxy.” Oso connects it all to the modern-day diaspora: “Here we stand, after the ships, / as amazing as we’ve always been.” In an author’s note, she emphasizes the importance of learning about the history of Black peoples apart from slavery and colonialism—a subject that far too often goes unacknowledged in textbooks. This enchanting picture book thoughtfully fills that gap.
A beautifully bold dedication to Black greatness. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Aug. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781338849974
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Orchard/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
A well-meaning but lackluster tribute.
Readers bid farewell to a beloved canine character.
Momo is—or was—an adorable and very photogenic border collie owned by author Knapp. The many readers who loved him in the previous half-dozen books are in for a shock with this one. “Momo had died” is the stark reality—and there are no photographs of him here. Instead, Momo has been replaced by a flat cartoonish pastiche with strange, staring round white eyes, inserted into some of Knapp’s photography (which remains appealing, insofar as it can be discerned under the mixed media). Previous books contained few or no words. Unfortunately, virtuosity behind a lens does not guarantee mastery of verse. The art here is accompanied by words that sometimes rhyme but never find a workable or predictable rhythm (“We’d fetch and we’d catch, / we’d run and we’d jump. Every day we found new / games to play”). It’s a pity, because the subject—a pet’s death—is an important one to address with children. Of course, Momo isn’t gone; he can still be found “everywhere” in memories. But alas, he can be found here only in the crude depictions of the darling dog so well known from the earlier books.
A well-meaning but lackluster tribute. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781683693864
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Quirk Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet and endearing feathered migration.
A relationship between a Latina grandmother and her mixed-race granddaughter serves as the frame to depict the ruby-throated hummingbird migration pattern.
In Granny’s lap, a girl is encouraged to “keep still” as the intergenerational pair awaits the ruby-throated hummingbirds with bowls of water in their hands. But like the granddaughter, the tz’unun—“the word for hummingbird in several [Latin American] languages”—must soon fly north. Over the next several double-page spreads, readers follow the ruby-throated hummingbird’s migration pattern from Central America and Mexico through the United States all the way to Canada. Davies metaphorically reunites the granddaughter and grandmother when “a visitor from Granny’s garden” crosses paths with the girl in New York City. Ray provides delicately hashed lines in the illustrations that bring the hummingbirds’ erratic flight pattern to life as they travel north. The watercolor palette is injected with vibrancy by the addition of gold ink, mirroring the hummingbirds’ flashing feathers in the slants of light. The story is supplemented by notes on different pages with facts about the birds such as their nest size, diet, and flight schedule. In addition, a note about ruby-throated hummingbirds supplies readers with detailed information on how ornithologists study and keep track of these birds.
A sweet and endearing feathered migration. (bibliography, index) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: May 7, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5362-0538-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
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