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A SONG ABOUT MYSELF

Name: A SONG ABOUT MYSELF
Author: John Keats
ISBN: 978-0-7636-5090-2

by John Keats ; illustrated by Chris Raschka ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 14, 2017

Visually boisterous, great fun to read aloud, and likely to incite some “wond’ring” along with the laughter.

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Raschka injects fresh whimsy into a bit of linguistic tomfoolery from one of the poet’s letters to his younger sister.

The poem has been illustrated before—notably by Ezra Jack Keats (1965)—but Raschka’s free-form brushwork and love of bright color contrasts seem particularly suited to the autobiographical (more or less) verses’ quick tumble of chopped lines and rhymes. Having “followéd his Nose / To the North, / To the North,” a “naughty boy” writes in cool weather and warm (“Och the charm”), makes “Of fish a pretty Kettle / A Kettle!” and observes that in Scotland “the ground / Was as hard, / That a yard / Was as long, / That a song / Was as merry” as in England. The words propel themselves along: “So he stood in his shoes / And he wonder’d, / He wonder’d, / He stood in his shoes // And he wonder’d.” The illustrations are equally playful. The endpapers present views of the Scottish coast and New York separated only by a narrow blue band labeled “Much Water,” for instance. Raschka depicts a light-brown lad with windblown hair and a red cap, first running, then walking ever more contemplatively along broad tracks that turn out to be arrows pointing him onward.

Visually boisterous, great fun to read aloud, and likely to incite some “wond’ring” along with the laughter. (afterword) (Picture book. 6-9)

Pub Date: March 14, 2017

ISBN: 978-0-7636-5090-2

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Candlewick

Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR | CHILDREN'S POETRY

- BOOK REVIEW
NAUGHTY BOY
by John Keats ; illustrated by Grant Silverstein

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LONG, TALL LINCOLN

by Jennifer Dussling ; illustrated by Chin Ko ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 20, 2017

A succinct, edifying read, but don’t buy it for the pictures.

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Abraham Lincoln’s ascent to the presidency is recounted in a fluid, easy-to-read biography for early readers.

Simple, direct sentences stress Lincoln’s humble upbringing, his honesty, and his devotion to acting with moral conviction. “Lincoln didn’t seem like a man who would be president one day. But he studied hard and became a lawyer. He cared about people and about justice.” Slavery and Lincoln’s signature achievement of emancipation are explained in broad yet defined, understandable analogies. “At that time, in the South, the law let white people own black people, just as they owned a house or a horse.” Readers are clearly given the president’s perspective through some documented memorable quotes from his own letters. “Lincoln did not like slavery. ‘If slavery is not wrong,’ he wrote to a friend ‘nothing is wrong.’ ” (The text does not clarify that this letter was written in 1865 and not before he ascended to the presidency, as implied by the book.) As the war goes on and Lincoln makes his decision to free the slaves in the “Southern states”—“a bold move”—Lincoln’s own words describe his thinking: “ ‘If my name ever goes into history,’ Lincoln said, ‘it will be for this act.’ ” A very basic timeline, which mentions the assassination unaddressed in the text, is followed by backmatter providing photographs, slightly more detailed historical information, and legacy. It’s a pity that the text is accompanied by unremarkable, rudimentary opaque paintings.

A succinct, edifying read, but don’t buy it for the pictures. (Informational early reader. 6-8)

Pub Date: June 20, 2017

ISBN: 978-0-06-243256-8

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: March 5, 2017

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2017

Categories:

CHILDREN'S BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR

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WHAT YOU NEED TO BE WARM

by Neil Gaiman ; illustrated by Various ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 31, 2023

No substitute for blankets or shelter, but perhaps a way of securing some warmth for those in need.

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Gaiman’s free-verse meditation on coming in from, or at least temporarily fending off, the cold is accompanied by artwork from 13 illustrators.

An ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the author put out a social media appeal in 2019 asking people about their memories of warmth; the result is this picture book, whose proceeds will go to the UNHCR. For many refugees and other displaced persons, Gaiman writes, “food and friends, / home, a bed, even a blanket, / become just memories.” Here he gathers images that signify warmth, from waking in a bed “burrowed beneath blankets / and comforters” to simply holding a baked potato or being offered a scarf. Using palettes limited to black and the warm orange in which most of the text is printed, an international slate of illustrators give these images visual form, and 12 of the 13 add comments about their intentions or responses. The war in Ukraine is on the minds of Pam Smy and Bagram Ibatoulline, while Majid Adin recalls his time as a refugee in France’s “Calais jungle” camp. “You have the right to be here,” the poet concludes, which may give some comfort to those facing the cold winds of public opinion in too many of the places where refugees fetch up. The characters depicted are diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

No substitute for blankets or shelter, but perhaps a way of securing some warmth for those in need. (Picture book. 6-9)