A heartwarming story, if a bit short on cuddles.
A fictionalized biography of “one of the most endearing companions of modern times.”
On a trip to Mississippi, President Theodore Roosevelt went hunting, but the only bear he came across was “one scruffy, no-account cub,” and the president certainly couldn’t shoot it. “I’d never be able to look my children in the eyes again!” But even though T.R. didn’t snag a bear, the newspapers got a story, and the Washington Post ran a Clifford Berryman cartoon that got the attention of Morris and Rose Michtom, who owned a little novelty shop in Brooklyn. To honor the president’s “big warm heart,” Mrs. Michtom created a bear sewn together out of scrap materials. She stuffed it with fine wood shavings, sewed on shoe buttons for eyes, and stitched a little black nose with darning thread. They placed “Teddy’s Bear” in the shop window, and soon it seemed as if everyone in America was buying teddy bears. “I think the reason kids love teddy bears so much is that they’re so darn cuddly,” said Mr. Michtom. However, the digitally rendered illustrations of the bears make them seem more flat and untextured than cuddly. Otherwise, though, the match of cartoonish illustrations and clear text works well in creating a solid, upbeat account. The author’s note mostly retells the story and discusses where “pleasant speculation” was blended with the factual record. Characters depicted all seem to be white.
A heartwarming story, if a bit short on cuddles. (Picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: May 7, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-77138-795-8
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: Feb. 5, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2019
A good-enough introduction to a contested festivity but one that’s not in step with the community it’s for.
An overview of the modern African-American holiday.
This book arrives at a time when black people in the United States have had intraracial—some serious, some snarky—conversations about Kwanzaa’s relevance nowadays, from its patchwork inspiration that flattens the cultural diversity of the African continent to a single festive story to, relatedly, the earnest blacker-than-thou pretentiousness surrounding it. Both the author and consultant Keith A. Mayes take great pains—and in painfully simplistic language—to provide a context that attempts to refute the internal arguments as much as it informs its intended audience. In fact, Mayes says in the endnotes that young people are Kwanzaa’s “largest audience and most important constituents” and further extends an invitation to all races and ages to join the winter celebration. However, his “young people represent the future” counterpoint—and the book itself—really responds to an echo of an argument, as black communities have moved the conversation out to listen to African communities who critique the holiday’s loose “African-ness” and deep American-ness and moved on to commemorate holidays that have a more historical base in black people’s experiences in the United States, such as Juneteenth. In this context, the explications of Kwanzaa’s principles and symbols and the smattering of accompanying activities feel out of touch.
A good-enough introduction to a contested festivity but one that’s not in step with the community it’s for. (resources, bibliography, glossary, afterword) (Nonfiction. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4263-2849-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: National Geographic Kids
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2017
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
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