A rousing blueprint for economic self-determination and success.
The true story of the first self-made African American female millionaire.
Annie Malone (1877-1957) loved playing “beauty parlor” by styling her sister’s hair. She was so talented that even the adults in her community had Annie style their hair. Believing that hair was her “destiny,” even as she was told that Black women could aspire only to be “maids, washerwomen, or cooks,” she learned from her aunt, a herb doctor, to develop formulas for hair products that would help to style, protect, and heal the scalps of Black women, who often suffered from hair loss and scalp ailments due to inappropriate grooming products and the harsh process of straightening their hair. Her Wonderful Hair Grower was the first of many products and services that she would go on to create to enhance and affirm Black women’s beauty. Catarevas weaves a lifetime of events—Malone’s early years, her evolution to business owner, and the development of a successful business strategy during a time when career options for Black women were limited—into a well-paced, engrossing narrative that will have readers rooting for Annie. Marshall’s illustrations, a mosaic of rich colors, skillfully complement the text and convey the feel of the period while capturing Annie’s passion and the dignity of the women depicted. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A rousing blueprint for economic self-determination and success. (author’s note, timeline, bibliography) (Picture-book biography. 5-9)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-954354-10-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Creston
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 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Bridges Goes to School, but here the sensibility is more personal, and the sometimes-shocking historical photos have been replaced by uplifting painted scenes.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
PERSPECTIVES
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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