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THE SECRET POCKET

Name: THE SECRET POCKET
Author: Peggy Janicki
ISBN: 9781459833722

by Peggy Janicki ; illustrated by Carrielynn Victor ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 11, 2023

A moving tribute to Native children’s survival in the residential school system.

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Inspired by her mother’s experience as a child, Janicki (Nak’azdli Whut’en Nation) tells a story of Indigenous resilience and resourcefulness in the face of colonial violence.

Closely connected to her family, the 4-year-old protagonist spends time at the lakeside smokehouse of her ’Utsoo (Dakelh for grandmother) and ’Utsiyan (grandfather). That summer, a priest and a nun encroach upon their family gathering to pressure the narrator and her siblings into attending the Lejac residential school. Conditions at the school are abject, and the children resort to eating toothpaste. The only respites for the protagonist and her siblings are the summer breaks and winter holidays spent at home—requiring her ’Uba (father) to make a 12-hour journey to pick them up. To make it through arduous days of abuse and neglect, the clever child and her friends sew pockets into their petticoats, incorporating what they learned from their families’ beading practices and allowing them to smuggle food out of the kitchen to share with others and keep hope alive—“We sewed our survival into every stitch.” Victor’s (Coast Salish) soft, often understated images depict a heart-rending experience. Though the tale is emotionally fraught, young readers are left with an uplifting reminder about the power and resolve of Indigenous people: “We were geniuses. We are geniuses. We will always be geniuses.” (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A moving tribute to Native children’s survival in the residential school system. (glossary of Dakelh terms, author’s note) (Picture book. 6-11)

Pub Date: April 11, 2023

ISBN: 9781459833722

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Orca

Review Posted Online: April 11, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2023

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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THE LITTLE BOOK OF JOY

by Dalai Lama & Desmond Tutu ; illustrated by Rafael López ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 27, 2022

Hundreds of pages of unbridled uplift boiled down to 40.

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From two Nobel Peace Prize winners, an invitation to look past sadness and loneliness to the joy that surrounds us.

Bobbing in the wake of 2016’s heavyweight Book of Joy (2016), this brief but buoyant address to young readers offers an earnest insight: “If you just focus on the thing that is making / you sad, then the sadness is all you see. / But if you look around, you will / see that joy is everywhere.” López expands the simply delivered proposal in fresh and lyrical ways—beginning with paired scenes of the authors as solitary children growing up in very different circumstances on (as they put it) “opposite sides of the world,” then meeting as young friends bonded by streams of rainbow bunting and going on to share their exuberantly hued joy with a group of dancers diverse in terms of age, race, culture, and locale while urging readers to do the same. Though on the whole this comes off as a bit bland (the banter and hilarity that characterized the authors’ recorded interchanges are absent here) and their advice just to look away from the sad things may seem facile in view of what too many children are inescapably faced with, still, it’s hard to imagine anyone in the world more qualified to deliver such a message than these two. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Hundreds of pages of unbridled uplift boiled down to 40. (Picture book. 6-8)

Pub Date: Sept. 27, 2022

ISBN: 978-0-593-48423-4

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Crown

Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2022

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S HEALTH & DAILY LIVING

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DEAR RUBY, HEAR OUR HEARTS

by Ruby Bridges ; illustrated by John Jay Cabuay ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 2, 2024

Anemic messages of hope from an iconic activist.

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Civil rights legend Bridges encourages young people to persevere.

After becoming the face of school integration at just 6 years old, Bridges continued to further her legacy by visiting schools across the U.S. Over the past 25 years, she has received letters from thousands of students with “ideas and concerns that ran deeper than we grown-ups gave them credit for.” In her latest book for kids, Bridges responds to notes from children grappling with political and social crises, including anti-Asian racism, climate change, and gun violence. The issues that matter to young Americans come alive in Cabuay’s energetic illustrations, which make deft use of color and texture. On one spread, a short, brown-skinned child named Tala, bullied for being short, strides confidently down a school hallway past classmates who whisper and laugh. In the accompanying letter, Tala talks about drawing strength from Bridges’ bravery; Bridges’ reply emphasizes that “it’s okay to be different because what really matters is your heart and what’s inside!” The correspondences are brief, barely skimming the surface, and Bridges’ messages are too general to have a genuine impact. Backmatter, which includes a glossary with pronunciation guides, is helpful but does little to connect Bridges’ historic contributions to the issues young people are facing today. This picture book’s superficial discussion of important topics doesn’t live up to Bridges’ advocacy or Cabuay’s dynamic art.

Anemic messages of hope from an iconic activist. (more information on Bridges) (Picture book. 6-9)