Essential reading for teaching children about the importance of demanding equality and respect.
Young readers are introduced to the inspiring life of lesser-known civil rights leader Mary Hamilton.
Weatherford recounts that as a child, Mary had a “fighting spirit” and proudly embraced her African American identity despite the fact that her “skin was so light, she could have been mistaken for white.” She grew up to attend a genteel all-girls college where she learned that addressing people by their proper titles was “a sign of COURTESY AND RESPECT,” and she pursued a teaching career. Hamilton became the first woman head of the Congress of Racial Equality’s Southern region and was frequently arrested while participating in civil rights protests. When a White prosecutor referred to her as “Mary,” she insisted on being addressed by the honorific “Miss.” Charged with contempt of court, she took her case all the way to the Supreme Court, which ruled that all people should be entitled to the same respectful forms of address, regardless of race. Weatherford’s text is straightforward, unfolding the story in pithy, reportorial prose. Bold fonts and all-caps typography help emphasize the fierce moral urgency of the civil rights movement. With a combination of black-and-white photos (including a montage of portraits of Hamilton’s relatives) and scratchboard art, the book presents iconic, unvarnished images of the civil rights era and captures Hamilton’s bold determination. Fans of Weatherford’s Voices of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer (2015) will enjoy this visually interesting picture book. Backmatter includes a timeline of the civil rights movement.
Essential reading for teaching children about the importance of demanding equality and respect. (author's note, further reading) (Picture-book biography. 7-11)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5415-6040-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Millbrook/Lerner
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2022
PERSPECTIVES
PERSPECTIVES
Friends of these pollinators will be best served elsewhere.
This book is buzzing with trivia.
Follow a swarm of bees as they leave a beekeeper’s apiary in search of a new home. As the scout bees traverse the fields, readers are provided with a potpourri of facts and statements about bees. The information is scattered—much like the scout bees—and as a result, both the nominal plot and informational content are tissue-thin. There are some interesting facts throughout the book, but many pieces of trivia are too, well trivial, to prove useful. For example, as the bees travel, readers learn that “onion flowers are round and fluffy” and “fennel is a plant that is used in cooking.” Other facts are oversimplified and as a result are not accurate. For example, monofloral honey is defined as “made by bees who visit just one kind of flower” with no acknowledgment of the fact that bees may range widely, and swarm activity is described as a springtime event, when it can also occur in summer and early fall. The information in the book, such as species identification and measurement units, is directed toward British readers. The flat, thin-lined artwork does little to enhance the story, but an “I spy” game challenging readers to find a specific bee throughout is amusing.
Friends of these pollinators will be best served elsewhere. (Informational picture book. 8-10)Pub Date: May 18, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-500-65265-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An in-depth and visually pleasing look at one of the most fundamental forces in the universe.
An introduction to gravity.
The book opens with the most iconic demonstration of gravity, an apple falling. Throughout, Herz tackles both huge concepts—how gravity compresses atoms to form stars and how black holes pull all kinds of matter toward them—and more concrete ones: how gravity allows you to jump up and then come back down to the ground. Gravity narrates in spare yet lyrical verse, explaining how it creates planets and compresses atoms and comparing itself to a hug. “My embrace is tight enough that you don’t float like a balloon, but loose enough that you can run and leap and play.” Gravity personifies itself at times: “I am stubborn—the bigger things are, the harder I pull.” Beautiful illustrations depict swirling planets and black holes alongside racially diverse children playing, running, and jumping, all thanks to gravity. Thorough backmatter discusses how Sir Isaac Newton discovered gravity and explains Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity. While at times Herz’s explanations may be a bit too technical for some readers, burgeoning scientists will be drawn in.
An in-depth and visually pleasing look at one of the most fundamental forces in the universe. (Informational picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: April 15, 2024
ISBN: 9781668936849
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tilbury House
Review Posted Online: May 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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