A fascinating, larger-than-life personality is deservedly brought to readers’ attention in this fine offering.
A cycling novice takes up an extraordinary challenge.
Two men offered $10,000 to the first woman to circumnavigate the globe by bike. Annie Londonderry—full name Annie Cohen Kopchovsky Londonderry (1870-1947)—a 24-year-old Jewish homemaker, had never ridden a bike, but she needed that money. The deal had a few stipulations: She had to earn $5,000 while traveling and return in 15 months or less. As a child, Annie had faced challenges learning English as a recent Latvian immigrant. Now she mastered cycling—in two lessons. On June 25, 1894, Annie left Boston with only an extra pair of undergarments. Roads were rough; she ate sparingly and occasionally slept on the ground. Eventually, Annie doffed her skirts, instead opting for bloomers. She traded her bike for a lighter, faster, brakeless men’s racer, changed directions, and boarded a Europe-bound ship, where she gave paid lectures. She made her way through Asia, sailed the Pacific, and crossed the United States. Journalists reported on the exploits of Annie, who continued earning money by lecturing. On September 12, 1895, she completed her journey, 14 days early. This fast-paced, well-written tale tells the story of a remarkable, determined woman. The quirky, lively illustrations, rendered in oil paint with varnish, sometimes presented as vignettes, nicely capture period settings and details. The mantra “pedal, balance, steer” “careens” throughout the artwork, the words and letters playfully stretching out; quotes from Annie are interspersed throughout.
A fascinating, larger-than-life personality is deservedly brought to readers’ attention in this fine offering. (author’s note; brakes, bloomers, and other bicycle bits; timeline; bibliography) (Informational picture book. 6-10)Pub Date: Feb. 20, 2024
ISBN: 9781635926828
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Calkins Creek/Astra Books for Young Readers
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
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 inspirational look at one girl’s quest to make sure that all skin tones are visible and available in the classroom.
A Black girl’s simple observation propels her into activism.
Woodard, who launched the More Than Peach Project—which arranges for classrooms and children in need to receive kits that include art supplies and boxes of multicultural crayons (crayons in a variety of skin tones)—relates the incident that sparked her journey. As the book begins, she is dropped off at school and notices that her family’s skin tone differs from that of her classmates. While it is clear that she is one of a few children of color at school, that difference isn’t really felt until her friends start asking for the “skin-color” crayon when they mean peach. She’s bothered that no one else seems to notice that skin comes in many colors, so she devises a unique way of bringing everyone’s attention to that fact. With support from her family and her school, she encourages her fellow classmates to rethink their language and starts an initiative to ensure that everyone’s skin tone is represented in each crayon box. Appealing, realistic artwork depicts Woodard’s experiences, while endpapers feature More Than Peach crayon boxes and childlike illustrations of kids of different ethnicities doing various activities. The story is stirring and will motivate budding activists. (This book was reviewed digitally; the review has been updated for factual accuracy.)
An inspirational look at one girl’s quest to make sure that all skin tones are visible and available in the classroom. (note from Woodard, information on Woodard’s journey into activism, instructions on starting a drive) (Picture-book biography. 6-10)Pub Date: July 26, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-338-80927-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: April 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2022
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