A superior telling of Yousafzai’s life and work thus far.
This detailed picture book celebrating Malala Yousafzai shows how she has used her position in the global spotlight to advocate for children’s rights.
The story opens with Yousafzai’s speech at the U.N. in 2013: “Our words can change the world.” It then moves back in time to ask, “Where did Malala learn that her voice and words could change the world?” With a beautiful collage of green land rising to purple and white mountaintops, her upbringing in the Swat Valley of Pakistan is described as nourishing and happy, with a strong family unit. Her words from the blog the BBC began to host in 2009 appear, as do words from her later writings, to describe life under Taliban rule. The latter are pictured as rows and crowds of men in baggy shalwar kameez with scarves tied around their faces and dark holes for eyes. Her family’s brief move out of Swat is included, as is her National Youth Peace Prize awarded in Pakistan, details that show both the devastation within Pakistan and her own country’s appreciation of her work. The text appears on ruled notebook paper, and paper-and-fabric–collage artwork alternates between focusing on Yousafzai and crowd scenes that show her impact. The cloudy black around the eyes on some faces may be a bit distracting, but the illustrations work well overall, with strong use of color and shadow to convey emotion and energy. A Spanish version is available as well, in a translation by Eida de la Vega. An earlier version of the text was published under the same title in 2014 with illustrations by L.C. Wheatley.
A superior telling of Yousafzai’s life and work thus far. (historical notes, activist resources, sources) (Picture book/biography. 5-10)Pub Date: Feb. 12, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-62014-838-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Lee & Low Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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Bridges Goes to School, but here the sensibility is more personal, and the sometimes-shocking historical photos have been replaced by uplifting painted scenes.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
PERSPECTIVES
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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