A moving picture-book biography that reveals a complex personality who followed a unique path.
Activist Angela Davis’ childhood experiences shaped the trajectory of her life.
Davis grew up in segregated Birmingham, Alabama, with parents who believed that “freedom lives anywhere and everywhere it pleases,” but not all of their neighbors agreed. Many retaliated with violence (“Bombs exploded, houses rumbled”), but her parents instilled in her the possibility of change—a mindset that gave her life direction. As a college professor, she shared that vision with others, embracing viewpoints that placed her in opposition to the U.S. government. Eventually, she was incarcerated; she used her time in prison to share her perspective with her fellow inmates. Many all around the world called for her release until at last she was acquitted and freed. A prison abolitionist, she was a symbol of a world where those whose needs are unmet will be cared for. Peoples uses clear, inspiring language to relate her subject’s path to activism amid turbulent times. Readers may emerge with questions about why Davis was imprisoned; a visual essay in the backmatter offers context about Davis’ alleged involvement in the death of a prison guard, as well as her vindication. Peoples’ passion comes through; an author’s note details her personal connection to Davis’ ideals and how they still resonate. Colorful, expressionistic illustrations, rife with visual metaphor, contribute to the atmospheric storytelling.
A moving picture-book biography that reveals a complex personality who followed a unique path. (timeline) (Picture-book biography. 4-8)Pub Date: June 3, 2025
ISBN: 9780063206786
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: April 19, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2025
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
A picture book more than worthy of sharing the shelf with Alan Schroeder and Jerry Pinkney’s Minty (1996) and Carole Boston...
A memorable, lyrical reverse-chronological walk through the life of an American icon.
In free verse, Cline-Ransome narrates the life of Harriet Tubman, starting and ending with a train ride Tubman takes as an old woman. “But before wrinkles formed / and her eyes failed,” Tubman could walk tirelessly under a starlit sky. Cline-Ransome then describes the array of roles Tubman played throughout her life, including suffragist, abolitionist, Union spy, and conductor on the Underground Railroad. By framing the story around a literal train ride, the Ransomes juxtapose the privilege of traveling by rail against Harriet’s earlier modes of travel, when she repeatedly ran for her life. Racism still abounds, however, for she rides in a segregated train. While the text introduces readers to the details of Tubman’s life, Ransome’s use of watercolor—such a striking departure from his oil illustrations in many of his other picture books—reveals Tubman’s humanity, determination, drive, and hope. Ransome’s lavishly detailed and expansive double-page spreads situate young readers in each time and place as the text takes them further into the past.
A picture book more than worthy of sharing the shelf with Alan Schroeder and Jerry Pinkney’s Minty (1996) and Carole Boston Weatherford and Kadir Nelson’s Moses (2006). (Picture book/biography. 5-8)Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-8234-2047-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Aug. 6, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2017
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