Poignant and warm, just like the book that inspired it.
On the heels of The Velveteen Rabbit’s centenary comes a beautiful picture book about its author, Margery Williams.
Golden’s sensitive text traces Williams’ life from her childhood in London, where her father encouraged her creativity, to her years in New York after his death and into her adulthood, when she wrote The Velveteen Rabbit in the aftermath of World War I. These milestones are underscored by thematic throughlines about the value of imagination and the power of love. Escobar’s accompanying illustrations are reminiscent of those of Barbara Cooney or the Provensens, though embellished with collages by her own daughter to evoke Williams’ girlhood creativity and that of her children. Brief excerpts from her famous work appear in italicized text on several pages, reinforcing key emotions and events to suggest ways that Williams’ experiences may have influenced that now-classic story. The scene about Williams’ father’s death, for instance, is accompanied by a brief conversation between two characters from the book: “‘Does it hurt?’ asked the Rabbit. ‘Sometimes,’ said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful.” As accomplished as words and pictures are, it’s a shame to see no reference to The Velveteen Rabbit’s art—neither the first images in a magazine by Williams’ own young daughter, Pamela Bianco, nor William Nicholson’s in the 1922 book. Despite this omission, however, there’s much to love here.
Poignant and warm, just like the book that inspired it. (Picture-book biography. 5-8)Pub Date: Jan. 21, 2025
ISBN: 9780358681540
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 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
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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