Delightful. Plork!
Celebrate the life of artist, nun, and activist Corita Kent.
When Frances Elizabeth Kent first receives art lessons as a sixth grader, she becomes, in Burgess’ poetic telling, “a bird in the breeze of her brush”; the phrase is repeated with powerful effect in the final spread of this compelling picture-book biography. As an adult, Frances joins the Order of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, becoming Sister Mary Corita. The book chronicles her years of teaching, during which she coins the portmanteau plork, "when play and work are one”; her training in silk-screening; and her transformation of the art department of Immaculate Heart College into a “lively center of art and design.” With art that encourages seeing “the sacred in the everyday” and her passion for speaking out against social injustices and war, Corita makes waves and angers the archbishop. After release from her vows, she moves to Boston to continue to make art. The text shines with a deeply felt reverence for Corita’s work and makes explicit her influence as a teacher, artist, and activist. Design choices, including a double gatefold in the book’s center and a surprise cover beneath the dust jacket, emphasize Corita’s inspired mission. The lively, brightly colored illustrations feature occasional photo collage elements and incorporate a vivid blue bird as a symbol of Corita and her artistic spirit. Corita is White; some classroom and community scenes include characters of color. Detailed backmatter fleshes out Corita’s life and accomplishments.
Delightful. Plork! (chronology, author's note, illustrator's note, quotation sources) (Picture book/biography. 6-12)Pub Date: July 20, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-59270-316-6
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Enchanted Lion Books
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2021
A celebration of progressive Judaism and an inclusive primer on Jews making a difference in the world.
This wide-ranging collection of short biographies highlights 36 Jewish figures from around the globe and across centuries.
Explicitly pushing back against homogenous depictions of Jewish people, the authors demonstrate the ethnic, racial, and gender diversity of Jews. Each spread includes a brief biography paired with a stylized portrait reminiscent of those in Elena Favilli and Francesca Cavallo’s Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls (2016). A pull quote or sidebar accompanies each subject; sidebars include “Highlighting Jewish Paralympic Athletes,” “Jewish Stringed Music,” and “Ethiopian Jews in Israel.” Kleinrock and Pritchard’s roster of subjects makes a compelling case for the vastness and variety of Jewish experience—from a contemporary Ethiopian American teen to a 16th-century Portuguese philanthropist—while still allowing them to acknowledge better-known figures. The entry on Raquel Montoya-Lewis, an associate justice of the Washington Supreme Court and an enrolled member of the Pueblo Isleta Indian tribe, discusses her mission to reimagine criminal justice for Indigenous people; the sidebar name-checks Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan. The bios are organized around themes of Jewish principles such as Pikuach Nefesh (translated from the Hebrew as “to save a life”) and Adam Yachid (translated as the “unique value of every person”); each section includes an introduction to an organization that centers diverse Jewish experiences.
A celebration of progressive Judaism and an inclusive primer on Jews making a difference in the world. (resources) (Nonfiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 24, 2024
ISBN: 9780063285712
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2024
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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