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BRAVE

Name: BRAVE
Author: Weshoyot Alvitre
ISBN: 9780593531600

by Weshoyot Alvitre ; illustrated by Weshoyot Alvitre ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 15, 2025

A tender tale woven with themes of resilience, courage, and love for Indigenous men.

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An Indigenous boy feels pride and joy in having traditional braids.

“Braids are brave,” begins Alvitre’s (Tongva) book about hair, heritage, and resilience. The child, who narrates, explains that his long golden-brown hair is both a source of ancestral honor and a target for bullying by unkind classmates. The boy draws strength from his father, grandpa, and great-grandpa, who all lived through different eras of discrimination and cultural genocide. In the face of these traumas, the narrator’s father emphasizes the child’s right to wear his hair long. Alvitre’s striking, cartoon-style illustrations fill the page, relying on rich colors and details to connect multiple generations of the protagonist’s patrilineal family. Some of the story’s examples of bravery may put off some readers. In one instance, the narrator praises his grandfather for suppressing emotion—“They cut his hair. He did not cry. He showed no fear”—which hews close to “boys don’t cry” messaging. Still, Alvitre’s poignant narrative primarily focuses on encouraging younger generations of Indigenous children to “feel loved and comfortable with who you are”—particularly for the courage that they demonstrate when confronting anti-Indigenous prejudice. This story has much to teach Native and non-Native kids alike about the painful history of assimilation and the power of familial affirmation.

A tender tale woven with themes of resilience, courage, and love for Indigenous men. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: April 15, 2025

ISBN: 9780593531600

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Kokila

Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
LIVING GHOSTS & MISCHIEVOUS MONSTERS
edited by Dan SaSuWeh Jones ; illustrated by Weshoyot Alvitre

- BOOK REVIEW
AT THE MOUNTAIN'S BASE
by Traci Sorell ; illustrated by Weshoyot Alvitre

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THE WORLD NEEDS THE WONDER YOU SEE

by Joanna Gaines ; illustrated by Julianna Swaney ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 28, 2025

Handy advice for perpetually inquisitive children.

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Interior decorator and TV personality Gaines invites readers to open their eyes and exercise their imaginations.

There’s a world to be explored out there—and only children can really take part. What does “looking for wonder” entail? Slowing down and looking up, around, and everywhere. At the outset, a group of eager, racially diverse young friends—including one who uses a wheelchair—are fully prepared for a grand adventure. They offer tips about how and where to look: Why, there’s a “grand parade” of marching ants! And, these kids add, perspective is key. A rainy day might signal gloom to some, but to those filled with wonder, showers bring “magic puddles for play”; a forest is “an enchanted world,” the ocean conceals “a spectacular city,” and the night sky boasts “extraordinary sights.” The takeaway: “Wonder is never in short supply.” It’s a robust, empowering message, as is the exhortation to “keep your mind open, and let curiosity guide the way.” Youngsters are also advised to share their discoveries. The upbeat narrative is delivered in clunky verse, but the colorful cartoonish illustrations brimming with activity and good cheer (including some adorable anthropomorphized animals in the backgrounds) make up for the textual lapses and should motivate readers to embark on their own “wonder explorations.”

Handy advice for perpetually inquisitive children. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: Jan. 28, 2025

ISBN: 9781400247417

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Tommy Nelson

Review Posted Online: today

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
THE WORLD NEEDS WHO YOU WERE MADE TO BE
by Joanna Gaines ; illustrated by Julianna Swaney

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.

The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)