A shiny but veneer-thin profile.
A hagiographical account of the great animator’s early years and later triumphs.
Next to the rest of the inspirational and aspirational entries in the Big Words series (Martin’s Big Words, 2001, etc.) this carries a muddled message. Rappaport gives the nod to many of Disney’s creative innovations, but, particularly toward the abrupt end, Disney comes off as more control freak than genius. Efforts to sanitize his classic rags-to-riches career include a weaselly claim that he “felt betrayed” when his animators went on strike for proper pay and film credit (the accompanying picture shows him sulking in a chair as picketers march outside). Even in her afterword she neglects to mention some of his less-stellar achievements, such as his testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee (and, for that matter, Song of the South). Several of the large-type taglines interspersed throughout are likewise bland (“Music has always had a prominent part in all our products”), and a closing reference to Disney’s legacy in the modern theme parks’ “many rides and many stores” sheds a rather commercial light on Walt’s characterization of Disneyland as an organic tribute to all imagination. In the illustrations, Pomeroy, a Disney Studios veteran, supplies big, vivacious views of his subject at various ages, often surrounded by versions or sketches of Mickey and other cartoon creations as well as a largely white workforce.
A shiny but veneer-thin profile. (timeline, illustrator’s note, bibliography, source notes) (Picture book/biography. 6-8)Pub Date: July 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4231-8470-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2018
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 unique angle on a watershed moment in the civil rights era.
The New Orleans school child who famously broke the color line in 1960 while surrounded by federal marshals describes the early days of her experience from a 6-year-old’s perspective.
Bridges told her tale to younger children in 2009’s Ruby Bridges Goes to School, but here the sensibility is more personal, and the sometimes-shocking historical photos have been replaced by uplifting painted scenes. “I didn’t find out what being ‘the first’ really meant until the day I arrived at this new school,” she writes. Unfrightened by the crowd of “screaming white people” that greets her at the school’s door (she thinks it’s like Mardi Gras) but surprised to find herself the only child in her classroom, and even the entire building, she gradually realizes the significance of her act as (in Smith’s illustration) she compares a small personal photo to the all-White class photos posted on a bulletin board and sees the difference. As she reflects on her new understanding, symbolic scenes first depict other dark-skinned children marching into classes in her wake to friendly greetings from lighter-skinned classmates (“School is just school,” she sensibly concludes, “and kids are just kids”) and finally an image of the bright-eyed icon posed next to a soaring bridge of reconciliation. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A unique angle on a watershed moment in the civil rights era. (author and illustrator notes, glossary) (Autobiographical picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-338-75388-2
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Orchard/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
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