A moving work from a legend of children’s literature and a testament to his legacy of visual storytelling.
The late Caldecott medalist Pinkney shares the childhood experiences that put him on the path to greatness.
Young Jerry grew up on a nurturing, all-Black block in Philadelphia in the 1940s and ’50s; his large family and circle of friends were crucial to his development as an artist, especially as he struggled with dyslexia. Jerry’s grandfather worked at a pencil factory, so Jerry was always able to draw whatever caught his imagination. His father took him along on home-repair jobs, showing Jerry the value of hard work. School was difficult, but his teacher Mrs. Miller helped him find ways to incorporate his drawing into his schoolwork. Jerry and his friends faced de facto segregation, and Jerry longed for experiences that were out of reach. A part-time job selling newspapers led to a chance meeting with cartoonist John Liney, and a visit to his studio offered a glimpse of what it would be like to be a working artist. This memoir, which was largely completed at the time of Pinkney’s death in 2021, provides important insight into one of children’s literature’s most prolific illustrators. Intimate and conversational in tone, the narrative is warm and inviting. The importance of family and community and Pinkney’s determination are strong themes throughout. The powerful text is accompanied by sketches that enhance the tale (an editor’s note states that Pinkney had planned to flesh those sketches out into elaborate drawings).
A moving work from a legend of children’s literature and a testament to his legacy of visual storytelling. (timeline) (Memoir. 8-12)Pub Date: Jan. 17, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-316-38385-1
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2022
With young readers diagnosed with anxiety in ever increasing numbers, this book offers a necessary mirror to many.
Young Raina is 9 when she throws up for the first time that she remembers, due to a stomach bug. Even a year later, when she is in fifth grade, she fears getting sick.
Raina begins having regular stomachaches that keep her home from school. She worries about sharing food with her friends and eating certain kinds of foods, afraid of getting sick or food poisoning. Raina’s mother enrolls her in therapy. At first Raina isn’t sure about seeing a therapist, but over time she develops healthy coping mechanisms to deal with her stress and anxiety. Her therapist helps her learn to ground herself and relax, and in turn she teaches her classmates for a school project. Amping up the green, wavy lines to evoke Raina’s nausea, Telgemeier brilliantly produces extremely accurate visual representations of stress and anxiety. Thought bubbles surround Raina in some panels, crowding her with anxious “what if”s, while in others her negative self-talk appears to be literally crushing her. Even as she copes with anxiety disorder and what is eventually diagnosed as mild irritable bowel syndrome, she experiences the typical stresses of school life, going from cheer to panic in the blink of an eye. Raina is white, and her classmates are diverse; one best friend is Korean American.
With young readers diagnosed with anxiety in ever increasing numbers, this book offers a necessary mirror to many. (Graphic memoir. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-545-85251-7
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 11, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2019
Though a bit loose around the edges, a charmer nevertheless.
Tales of a fourth grade ne’er-do-well.
It seems that young Jordan is stuck in a never-ending string of bad luck. Sure, no one’s perfect (except maybe goody-two-shoes William Feranek), but Jordan can’t seem to keep his attention focused on the task at hand. Try as he may, things always go a bit sideways, much to his educators’ chagrin. But Jordan promises himself that fourth grade will be different. As the year unfolds, it does prove to be different, but in a way Jordan couldn’t possibly have predicted. This humorous memoir perfectly captures the square-peg-in-a-round-hole feeling many kids feel and effectively heightens that feeling with comic situations and a splendid villain. Jordan’s teacher, Mrs. Fisher, makes an excellent foil, and the book’s 1970s setting allows for her cruelty to go beyond anything most contemporary readers could expect. Unfortunately, the story begins to run out of steam once Mrs. Fisher exits. Recollections spiral, losing their focus and leading to a more “then this happened” and less cause-and-effect structure. The anecdotes are all amusing and Jordan is an endearing protagonist, but the book comes dangerously close to wearing out its welcome with sheer repetitiveness. Thankfully, it ends on a high note, one pleasant and hopeful enough that readers will overlook some of the shabbier qualities. Jordan is White and Jewish while there is some diversity among his classmates; Mrs. Fisher is White.
Though a bit loose around the edges, a charmer nevertheless. (Memoir. 8-12)Pub Date: Feb. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-338-64723-5
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2020
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