A solid option for introducing the historical context of the holidays.
The holidays of Emancipation Day and Juneteenth are occasions for learning about the U.S. history of slavery, abolitionism, and emancipation.
In order to learn the meaning and significance of “Emancipation” and “Juneteenth,” readers first learn about “a terrible part of America’s history called slavery” and the brave heroes and heroines who fought to end it. A section called “How Did Slavery Begin in America?” explains how traders brought captured Africans across the ocean in chains, then sold them in markets to white owners, who became dependent on slave labor. This section points out that the rights and equality established in the Declaration of Independence did not include the enslaved population. Next, sections on Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, and Harriet Tubman describe the hard work that such abolitionists undertook. A section on the Civil War includes the Compensated Emancipation Act and the military operation Harriet Tubman led to help the Union Army rescue slaves. This section includes mention of the “Black Codes” that limited African-Americans’ freedom for many more years. The final few pages detail the history of the District of Columbia Emancipation Day holiday and the origin and traditions of the Juneteenth celebrations in Texas and elsewhere. Vivid modern photographs and historical illustrations cover half of every spread. Packed with information but more engaging than a textbook, this volume, like others in the series (Let’s Celebrate Women’s Equality Day publishes simultaneously), uses an honest yet positive approach to presenting the fight against injustice in U.S. society.
A solid option for introducing the historical context of the holidays. (Nonfiction. 7-11)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-63592-061-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kane Press
Review Posted Online: June 25, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
An enthralling historical account.
Rentetzi tells a lesser-known but inspiring story of science and politics.
In 1958, the U.S. donated two mobile labs to the International Atomic Energy Agency to demonstrate how, in the wake of World War II, nuclear power could be used for good. The vehicles visited four continents, providing global scope to the project. From the book’s first spread, which refers to the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (and includes an image of a mushroom cloud), Rentetzi’s clear, concise text, translated from Dutch, explains the hope that the labs would allow scientists to make advances in agriculture, medicine, and industry. Scientists “with or without lab coats, with or without shoes” attended training sessions and applied what they’d learned to local challenges. De Decker’s precise, powerful line-and-color artwork—a mix of vignettes and full-page spreads, some recalling classic Northern European art—depicts people, landscapes, monuments, transport vehicles, local animals, and the inside of a science lab in the late 1950s. Details from the text are artistically integrated, like a world map and the painted flags that record the countries the mobile labs visited. While the tone is overall positive, Rentetzi acknowledges the complex political undercurrents of the project, noting that the U.S. government sought to make scientists around the world dependent on American technology, thus giving the U.S. an edge over the Soviet Union.
An enthralling historical account. (more information on the mobile labs) (Informational picture book. 7-10)Pub Date: Aug. 5, 2025
ISBN: 9798890632456
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clavis
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
Fans of Terry Deary and Martin Brown’s Horrible Histories and their ilk are unlikely to consider this latest imitation more than an also-ran. Oliver surveys British history from the Isles’ Ice Age formation to the not-exactly-hot-off-the-presses 2005 news that London will host the 2012 Olympics. Though accurate enough in his broad picture, the author’s debatable facts (“…the Romans introduced really useful things such as toilets and even vegetables to the people of Britain”) and awkwardly written generalizations (“The Celtic kings consulted religious advisors to help them rule, known as druids”) drag the bland text down even further. Pinder's pen-and-ink illustrations attempt snark but too often fall flat: “That girl was always getting in my way,” remarks Bloody Mary as Lady Jane Grey’s newly severed head bounces by. This catalog of major British kings, queens, wars, pivotal events and cultural milestones is unlikely to entertain—much less resonate with—American audiences. (index, royal timeline) (Nonfiction. 8-11)
Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-906082-72-7
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Buster/Trafalgar
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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