Kids can make a difference, which Lola proves with gusto.
“¡Si se puede!”
A day in the life of a young Dolores Huerta is imagined in this story of activism. Lola helps Mama run the Hotel Delano. She delivers fresh towels, washes windows, and sets the dinner table—the only thing she can’t seem to do is stop talking! Her grandfather calls her “Lolita Siete Lenguas” (“Little Lola, Seven Tongues, all fighting to be heard”) and tells her, “For now, you must be quiet” but adds, “Sometimes one strong voice is just what we need.” When Lola, looking out her window, spots a woman and a girl getting kicked off the cable car for being unable to pay, she knows she must act. Remembering her mother’s admonition to fix a problem when it arises rather than pretending it isn't there, she races downstairs to welcome them into the hotel. Lola grows up to be a tireless advocate for farmworkers’ rights and uses her “seven tongues” to fight for social justice causes. This uncomplicated story will encourage readers to speak up when they see someone in need. Warm illustrations give characters—depicted in various shades of brown—a friendly tone. In an author’s note, Torres explains that while this incident was imagined, the story is inspired by Huerta’s childhood; Torres also provides details of Huerta’s iconic labor organizing work. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Kids can make a difference, which Lola proves with gusto. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Aug. 9, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-316-53012-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
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
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
