WHEN I MOVE

A child’s simple movements add up to something far greater than the sum of their parts.

Prolific and award-winning author Weatherford lends a poetic, lyrical hand to this tale that follows a brown-skinned youngster who swims, jumps, and bounces through life. These actions are all rife with meaning. “When I score, I become the cheers,” the young narrator proclaims, and “When I dance, I become the beat.” The repeated sentence structure and rhyming phrases make this an effective read-aloud just right for little listeners. With rosy cheeks and a head full of curly hair, the protagonist is drawn mostly in exuberant motion. A rainbow blur accompanies the child on a bike ride (“When I bike, / I become the gears”), and a swirl of air surrounds a ball that the youngster throws across the page. While some of the actions show the child engaged in a physical activity, others are more symbolic: “When I lift, I become the strength,” the child notes while helping a teary-eyed, light-skinned youngster with a scraped knee. And perhaps the most affecting of all: “When I move, I’m a force so free— // I feel the planet move with me.”

Pleasing poetry paired with compelling images of a childhood lived in motion.