Inspiring and delicious.
Leung and Iwai offer an account of the woman who changed the way Americans regard Chinese cuisine.
The seventh daughter in a wealthy Beijing family, Cecilia Chang (1920-2020) loved peering into the kitchen to watch the chefs preparing pork dumplings and sweet soup. At dinner each night, her father drew the family’s attention to subtleties of the meals—words that Cecilia eagerly drank in. When Japan invaded Beijing (and then the rest of the country) in 1937, Cecilia left the city, embarking on a harrowing wartime journey that took her throughout China as she learned about each region’s culinary specialties. In 1949, after civil war broke out, Cecilia escaped to Tokyo and then settled in San Francisco. She was disappointed by the Chinese food in restaurants, which was often cheap and greasy. “Chinese food is not just chop suey,” she complained. In 1961, she opened her own restaurant, the Mandarin, which boasted a menu of over 200 dishes that highlighted flavors from all over China. The Mandarin soon became a fine-dining destination that redefined Americans’ perceptions of Chinese food. Iwai’s muted watercolor-and-ink artwork relies on a mixture of vignettes and full- and half-page spreads to capture the details of Cecilia’s trek. Close-ups of the various dishes paired with sumptuous descriptions, along with maps of the regions where they originated, emphasize the richness of Chinese cuisine. (This review has been updated for factual accuracy.)
Inspiring and delicious. (author’s note, photos) (Picture-book biography. 5-10)Pub Date: April 29, 2025
ISBN: 9780759557413
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A brief but sweet snapshot of an inspiring girl who finds hope in song.
Through the power of music, Lucimarian Tolliver is reminded of what’s important.
Lucy is one of the only children of African descent on her block—called Lucy Street—in 1930s Akron, Ohio, but all her neighbors share one commonality: poverty. Lucy’s carefree spirit is dampened when her family’s furniture is repossessed one day. She visits her grandfather, who comforts her by singing the folk standard “This Little Light of Mine.” Grandpa tells Lucy that she’s destined for greatness and that she should never stop singing, even through life’s toughest moments. Back at home, Lucy’s father scolds her for singing at the dinner table, so she quickly finishes eating and wanders outside and sings into the night. Her voice reaches her family and neighbors, who are all touched by her song. Digital illustrations evoke the time period in muted tones, featuring endearing characters with simple yet expressive features. The visual subject matter is repetitive from page to page, as are the incorporated lyrics of “This Little Light of Mine.” Based on Lucimarian Tolliver’s experiences growing up during the Depression, the text contains an epilogue but lacks backmatter detailing historical context or more information about Lucy’s life. Though the themes of optimism and the importance of family, faith, and music shine through the text, readers may be left with more questions than answers.
A brief but sweet snapshot of an inspiring girl who finds hope in song. (Picture-book biography. 5-7)Pub Date: May 20, 2025
ISBN: 9780063222540
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
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
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