A captivating, bookish tribute to an unstoppable upstander that will empower the youngest activists.
A young reader grows to be a fearless activist and change-making politician.
As a child in Alabama, John Lewis wasn’t permitted to have a library card: “Most libraries were for white people. And he was Black.” Recognizing injustice, he wrote the library a letter, which went unanswered. That didn’t stop John from spending the rest of his life fighting for racial equity. Years later, John and his friends sat at lunch counters and in bus seats reserved for white customers and stood in the sun for hours in voter registration lines. Again and again, they were denied access. Even when faced with anger and violence, they marched for their rights until the laws began to slowly change. John never stopped reading, learning, and fighting, long after he had finally received his library card. Framed by its subject’s love of books and libraries, this biography celebrates Lewis’ determination and situates him within the Civil Rights Movement in language accessible to the picture-book set. Detailed backmatter (including an author’s note) touches on the March on Washington and Bloody Sunday, adding necessary historical depth for older readers, caregivers, and teachers. Rough-edged oil paintings lend a folk-art feel to the story and bring certain striking details into focus, such as the purposeful expressions of the marchers and the ire of the bystanders.
A captivating, bookish tribute to an unstoppable upstander that will empower the youngest activists. (timeline, further reading) (Picture-book biography. 4-7)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9780593524909
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
It’s a bit sketchy of historical detail, but it’s coherent, inspirational, and engaging without indulging in rapturous...
A first introduction to the iconic civil rights activist.
“She was very little and very brave, and she always tried to do what was right.” Without many names or any dates, Kaiser traces Parks’ life and career from childhood to later fights for “fair schools, jobs, and houses for black people” as well as “voting rights, women’s rights and the rights of people in prison.” Though her refusal to change seats and the ensuing bus boycott are misleadingly presented as spontaneous acts of protest, young readers will come away with a clear picture of her worth as a role model. Though recognizable thanks to the large wire-rimmed glasses Parks sports from the outset as she marches confidently through Antelo’s stylized illustrations, she looks childlike throughout (as characteristic of this series), and her skin is unrealistically darkened to match the most common shade visible on other African-American figures. In her co-published Emmeline Pankhurst (illustrated by Ana Sanfelippo), Kaiser likewise simplistically implies that Great Britain led the way in granting universal women’s suffrage but highlights her subject’s courageous quest for justice, and Isabel Sánchez Vegara caps her profile of Audrey Hepburn (illustrated by Amaia Arrazola) with the moot but laudable claim that “helping people across the globe” (all of whom in the pictures are dark-skinned children) made Hepburn “happier than acting or dancing ever had.” All three titles end with photographs and timelines over more-detailed recaps plus at least one lead to further information.
It’s a bit sketchy of historical detail, but it’s coherent, inspirational, and engaging without indulging in rapturous flights of hyperbole. (Picture book/biography. 5-7)Pub Date: Sept. 7, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-78603-018-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Frances Lincoln
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
With Souza’s book, this could have bookended the Obama years. But it’s more of a bookend and a paperweight.
Lucidon’s adaptation of her adult book Chasing Light (2017) for the kindergarten-to–second-grade set aims for the photographic splendor of Pete Souza’s Dream Big Dreams (2017), which celebrates what made the Obama administration both historic and extraordinary.
The author gives context for the first lady’s roles as well as the role of a White House photographer and the White House itself, including descriptions of the storied hued rooms. Within that framework, Lucidon shows Michelle Obama performing her duties inside and outside what she called “the People’s House.” However, it’s arguable that enough books exist detailing the duties and the building. What readers likely want from this book is to understand what exactly made Obama’s tenure as incredible as her husband’s. For example, the author calls Obama “Visitor-in-Chief,” but she most famously called herself “Mom-in-Chief” and validated many black mothers in a national discourse that constantly denigrates them. Considering this, it’s regrettable that the book includes relatively few photos of Obama with her family. Other missed opportunities abound, as when Lucidon fails to explain why black girls dancing under Lincoln’s portrait is significant in light of Obama’s first ladyship even as she acknowledges it is “a special moment in history.”
With Souza’s book, this could have bookended the Obama years. But it’s more of a bookend and a paperweight. (Nonfiction. 4-7)Pub Date: Oct. 23, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-525-64400-2
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
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