by Kim Taylor ; illustrated by Kim Taylor ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 3, 2023
Visually dazzling but should be supplemented with additional resources for a more comprehensive look at Juneteenth.
An exploration of the origins of Juneteenth.
It’s June 19, 1865, and as an enslaved Texan African American child named Huldah gets ready to celebrate their 10th birthday, soldiers arrive at the plantation to inform the inhabitants that slavery has ended and in fact has been over for two years. Though the plantation owners are angry, the formerly enslaved people rush to celebrate by sewing freedom flags. Created with fabric collage, the art in this work from quilter Taylor is stunning. The craftsmanship and attention to detail are breathtaking, and in an author’s note, Taylor shares that it took her over a year to create the quilts used for the book. However, the story offers a somewhat rosy depiction of the period. Not only does Huldah know their birthday and age, they have the double luxury of celebrating the day with their mother with tea cakes. The book is also thin on factual information. While in her author’s note, Taylor describes how she learned about Juneteenth in 2014 and why she was inspired to write and illustrate this work, she doesn’t include background on this holiday or the actual Juneteenth flag, which was created in 1997 by activist Ben Haith. Those seeking a more detailed history should pair this with Juneteenth (2006) by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson and Drew Nelson, illustrated by Mark Schroder, and All Different Now (2014) by Angela Johnson, illustrated by E.B. Lewis. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Visually dazzling but should be supplemented with additional resources for a more comprehensive look at Juneteenth. (Historical picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: Jan. 3, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-8234-5224-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Neal Porter/Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2022
Share your opinion of this book
More by Kim Taylor
BOOK REVIEW
by Kim Taylor
BOOK REVIEW
by Mary Ling & photographed by Kim Taylor
BOOK REVIEW
by Kim Taylor & photographed by Kim Taylor
by Nicola Davies ; illustrated by Jane Ray ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 7, 2019
A sweet and endearing feathered migration.
A relationship between a Latina grandmother and her mixed-race granddaughter serves as the frame to depict the ruby-throated hummingbird migration pattern.
In Granny’s lap, a girl is encouraged to “keep still” as the intergenerational pair awaits the ruby-throated hummingbirds with bowls of water in their hands. But like the granddaughter, the tz’unun—“the word for hummingbird in several [Latin American] languages”—must soon fly north. Over the next several double-page spreads, readers follow the ruby-throated hummingbird’s migration pattern from Central America and Mexico through the United States all the way to Canada. Davies metaphorically reunites the granddaughter and grandmother when “a visitor from Granny’s garden” crosses paths with the girl in New York City. Ray provides delicately hashed lines in the illustrations that bring the hummingbirds’ erratic flight pattern to life as they travel north. The watercolor palette is injected with vibrancy by the addition of gold ink, mirroring the hummingbirds’ flashing feathers in the slants of light. The story is supplemented by notes on different pages with facts about the birds such as their nest size, diet, and flight schedule. In addition, a note about ruby-throated hummingbirds supplies readers with detailed information on how ornithologists study and keep track of these birds.
A sweet and endearing feathered migration. (bibliography, index) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: May 7, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5362-0538-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
Share your opinion of this book
More by Nicola Davies
BOOK REVIEW
by Nicola Davies ; illustrated by Emily Sutton
BOOK REVIEW
by Nicola Davies ; illustrated by Jenni Desmond
BOOK REVIEW
by Nicola Davies ; illustrated by Catherine Rayner
by Dalai Lama & Desmond Tutu ; illustrated by Rafael López ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 27, 2022
Hundreds of pages of unbridled uplift boiled down to 40.
From two Nobel Peace Prize winners, an invitation to look past sadness and loneliness to the joy that surrounds us.
Bobbing in the wake of 2016’s heavyweight Book of Joy (2016), this brief but buoyant address to young readers offers an earnest insight: “If you just focus on the thing that is making / you sad, then the sadness is all you see. / But if you look around, you will / see that joy is everywhere.” López expands the simply delivered proposal in fresh and lyrical ways—beginning with paired scenes of the authors as solitary children growing up in very different circumstances on (as they put it) “opposite sides of the world,” then meeting as young friends bonded by streams of rainbow bunting and going on to share their exuberantly hued joy with a group of dancers diverse in terms of age, race, culture, and locale while urging readers to do the same. Though on the whole this comes off as a bit bland (the banter and hilarity that characterized the authors’ recorded interchanges are absent here) and their advice just to look away from the sad things may seem facile in view of what too many children are inescapably faced with, still, it’s hard to imagine anyone in the world more qualified to deliver such a message than these two. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Hundreds of pages of unbridled uplift boiled down to 40. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Sept. 27, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-48423-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2022
Share your opinion of this book
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Hey there, book lover.
We’re glad you found a book that interests you!
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.
Don’t fret. We’ll find you.