This thoughtful work of art comes together with beauty and meaning.
Award-winning illustrator Collier sets images of the present and the past against the text of a beloved song.
Lyrics of “We Shall Overcome,” a song associated with the 1960s-era civil rights movement, are printed in orange capital letters against a strip of brown background along the bottom of each spread. The pictures tell stories, juxtaposing present-day scenes and children in full color against significant events and sites of past struggle in black and white. Endmatter explains the significance of said sites and scenes for those who may not know: the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, Rosa Parks sitting down on a bus, children integrating schools. The opening spreads feature a school-age Black child rising and getting ready for the day with a smile; the middle spreads show the child arriving at school and learning with a multiracial group of peers, a Black teacher at the head of the class. Final spreads show the child walking by a street being painted with Black Lives Matter in yellow, then small crowds standing together and painting a mural together. Collier uses collage with a multitude of faces and layers to place the times and movements in relationship, creating a powerful opportunity for comparison, reflection, and discussion about the past and present. The opening and closing spreads with the smiling child offer the hopeful message Collier reinforces in his note.
This thoughtful work of art comes together with beauty and meaning. (historical note, illustrator's note) (Picture book. 3-10)Pub Date: Dec. 28, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-338-54037-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Orchard/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 29, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
PERSPECTIVES
PERSPECTIVES
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
New parents of daughters will eat these up and perhaps pass on the lessons learned.
All the reasons why a daughter needs a mother.
Each spread features an adorable cartoon animal parent-child pair on the recto opposite a rhyming verse: “I’ll always support you in giving your all / in every endeavor, the big and the small, / and be there to catch you in case you should fall. / I hope you believe this is true.” A virtually identical book, Why a Daughter Needs a Dad, publishes simultaneously. Both address standing up for yourself and your values, laughing to ease troubles, being thankful, valuing friendship, persevering and dreaming big, being truthful, thinking through decisions, and being open to differences, among other topics. Though the sentiments/life lessons here and in the companion title are heartfelt and important, there are much better ways to deliver them. These books are likely to go right over children’s heads and developmental levels (especially with the rather advanced vocabulary); their parents are the more likely audience, and for them, the books provide some coaching in what kids need to hear. The two books are largely interchangeable, especially since there are so few references to mom or dad, but one spread in each book reverts to stereotype: Dad balances the two-wheeler, and mom helps with clothing and hair styles. Since the books are separate, it aids in customization for many families.
New parents of daughters will eat these up and perhaps pass on the lessons learned. (Picture book. 4-8, adult)Pub Date: May 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4926-6781-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2019
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