An effervescent celebration.
Drummer Chick Webb may not have been big, but he was a force to be reckoned with.
Born in East Baltimore somewhere around the turn of the 20th century, little William Webb suffered from spinal tuberculosis, a condition that was exacerbated when he experienced a fall. After an operation, his doctor recommended the family get him a drum set as a means of physical therapy. As that was financially out of reach, William used spoons and pots and pans, eventually buying himself a set of drumsticks and then a full drum kit from his newsboy income. He walked with a hunch and never grew taller than 4-foot-1, but that didn’t stop him from drumming. Punctuating her account with ample onomatopoeia (“Dig-a-dig-a-dig-a-dig-a!”), Donohue describes how he recruited “only the best musicians for his band,” including Ella Fitzgerald as lead singer. He presided over the Savoy Ballroom, which permitted both Black and White dancers and where he and his band played Benny Goodman’s to its knees. Her focus is on the African American musician’s extraordinary talent and his physical challenges, but she does touch on the discrimination of the times. His tragically early death just two years after the showdown with Goodman is revealed in an author’s note. Freeman’s illustrations are full of movement, musical staves and notes swirling across the spreads in visual accentuation of Webb’s swing beat. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-18-inch double-page spreads viewed at 58% of actual size.)
An effervescent celebration. (Picture book/biography. 5-8)Pub Date: Jan. 15, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5341-1097-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2020
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
An inspiring introduction to the young Nobel Peace Prize winner and a useful conversation starter.
The latest of many picture books about the young heroine from Pakistan, this one is narrated by Malala herself, with a frame that is accessible to young readers.
Malala introduces her story using a television show she used to watch about a boy with a magic pencil that he used to get himself and his friends out of trouble. Readers can easily follow Malala through her own discovery of troubles in her beloved home village, such as other children not attending school and soldiers taking over the village. Watercolor-and-ink illustrations give a strong sense of setting, while gold ink designs overlay Malala’s hopes onto her often dreary reality. The story makes clear Malala’s motivations for taking up the pen to tell the world about the hardships in her village and only alludes to the attempt on her life, with a black page (“the dangerous men tried to silence me. / But they failed”) and a hospital bracelet on her wrist the only hints of the harm that came to her. Crowds with signs join her call before she is shown giving her famous speech before the United Nations. Toward the end of the book, adult readers may need to help children understand Malala’s “work,” but the message of holding fast to courage and working together is powerful and clear.
An inspiring introduction to the young Nobel Peace Prize winner and a useful conversation starter. (Picture book/memoir. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 17, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-316-31957-7
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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