An engaging art history read that would have benefitted from greater inclusivity.
An art history primer with a sweet conceit.
In an artist’s note, Tyler introduces her endeavor to emulate the style of 16 artists in depictions of donuts. “Why donuts?” she writes, asking the question that may cross many readers’ minds. She then matter-of-factly explains her project’s inspiration: “I have a sweet tooth that is impossible to satisfy and donuts are often on my mind.” Ensuing pages devote one spread to each artist, with versos typically offering a brief biography, an example of the artist’s work, and a point of interest about the artist under the heading “Delicious Details.” (There are a few artists without a representative piece of art reprinted, likely due to copyright concerns.) The biographical statements are succinct and informative, typically including commentary on the artist’s media and movement. Tyler’s donuts on the facing pages evidence her careful study of the artists’ styles, and terrific backmatter distills descriptions of techniques to inspire readers to attempt imitating their styles, as well. The fly in the ointment of this ambitious, well-executed book is the lack of diversity in the 16 featured artists. Most are European or American White men, with only two women (Mary Cassatt and Georgia O’Keeffe) and two men of color (Jean-Michel Basquiat and Tadanori Yokoo) included. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
An engaging art history read that would have benefitted from greater inclusivity. (glossary) (Informational picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-4867-1871-9
Page Count: 52
Publisher: Flowerpot Press
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Blandly inspirational fare made to evoke equally shrink-wrapped responses.
An NBA star pays tribute to the influence of his grandfather.
In the same vein as his Long Shot (2009), illustrated by Frank Morrison, this latest from Paul prioritizes values and character: “My granddad Papa Chilly had dreams that came true,” he writes, “so maybe if I listen and watch him, / mine will too.” So it is that the wide-eyed Black child in the simply drawn illustrations rises early to get to the playground hoops before anyone else, watches his elder working hard and respecting others, hears him cheering along with the rest of the family from the stands during games, and recalls in a prose afterword that his grandfather wasn’t one to lecture but taught by example. Paul mentions in both the text and the backmatter that Papa Chilly was the first African American to own a service station in North Carolina (his presumed dream) but not that he was killed in a robbery, which has the effect of keeping the overall tone positive and the instructional content one-dimensional. Figures in the pictures are mostly dark-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Blandly inspirational fare made to evoke equally shrink-wrapped responses. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Jan. 10, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-250-81003-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
Blandly laudatory.
The iconic animator introduces young readers to each “happy place” in his life.
The tally begins with his childhood home in Marceline, Missouri, and climaxes with Disneyland (carefully designed to be “the happiest place on Earth”), but the account really centers on finding his true happy place, not on a map but in drawing. In sketching out his early flubs and later rocket to the top, the fictive narrator gives Ub Iwerks and other Disney studio workers a nod (leaving his labor disputes with them unmentioned) and squeezes in quick references to his animated films, from Steamboat Willie to Winnie the Pooh (sans Fantasia and Song of the South). Eliopoulos incorporates stills from the films into his cartoon illustrations and, characteristically for this series, depicts Disney as a caricature, trademark mustache in place on outsized head even in childhood years and child sized even as an adult. Human figures default to white, with occasional people of color in crowd scenes and (ahistorically) in the animation studio. One unidentified animator builds up the role-modeling with an observation that Walt and Mickey were really the same (“Both fearless; both resourceful”). An assertion toward the end—“So when do you stop being a child? When you stop dreaming”—muddles the overall follow-your-bliss message. A timeline to the EPCOT Center’s 1982 opening offers photos of the man with select associates, rodent and otherwise. An additional series entry, I Am Marie Curie, publishes simultaneously, featuring a gowned, toddler-sized version of the groundbreaking physicist accepting her two Nobel prizes.
Blandly laudatory. (bibliography) (Picture book/biography. 6-8)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-7352-2875-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2019
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