by Rebecca Kai Dotlich & illustrated by Tammie Lyon ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2001
Don’t be fooled by the title—this delightful offering is a welcome departure from stories about family groupings. Instead, the rhyming verse details the way families act and the things that they do together. “Some families dress up / to go do the town. / And others are happy / just hanging around.” From the way they dress and eat, to where they live and the things they have, Dotlich’s (When Riddles Come Rumbling: Poems to Ponder, not reviewed, etc.) verses are a fun look at all the ways families are alike and different the world over. But it is the perfect combination of story and illustration that truly make this one to own. Featuring human as well as animal families, Lyon’s (An Alligator Ate My Brother, not reviewed, etc.) marvelous cartoon drawings are filled with detail, bright color, and wonderful facial expression. Frogs catching flies illustrate families who grab a quick bite to eat, while a Japanese mother and daughter and a cowboy and his son are pictured for families who have different styles. By carefully including different ethnicities, races, and family groupings, Dotlich insures that a child looking at these pictures will certainly see a family like his or her own. A great start to some comparisons of their own. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 2001
ISBN: 1-56397-916-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Wordsong/Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2002
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by Nikki Giovanni ; illustrated by Erin K. Robinson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 27, 2022
A lushly illustrated homage to librarians who provide a welcome and a home away from home for all who enter.
A love letter to libraries.
A Black child, with hair in two puffballs tied with yellow ribbons, a blue dress with a Peter Pan collar, and black patent leather Mary Janes, helps Grandmother with the housework, then, at Grandmother’s suggestion, heads to the library. The child’s eagerness to go, with two books under an arm and one in their hand, suggests that this is a favorite destination. The books’ wordless covers emphasize their endless possibilities. The protagonist’s description of the library makes clear that they are always free to be themselves there—whether they feel happy or sad, whether they’re reading mysteries or recipes, and whether they feel “quick and smart” or “contained and cautious.” Robinson’s vibrant, carefully composed digital illustrations, with bright colors that invite readers in and textures and patterns in every image, effectively capture the protagonist’s passion for reading and appreciation for a space where they feel accepted regardless of disposition. In her author’s note, Giovanni states that she spent summers visiting her grandmother in Knoxville, Tennessee, where she went to the Carnegie Branch of the Lawson McGhee Library. She expresses gratitude for Mrs. Long, the librarian, who often traveled to the main library to get books that Giovanni could not find in their segregated branch. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A lushly illustrated homage to librarians who provide a welcome and a home away from home for all who enter. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 27, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-358-38765-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Versify/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
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SEEN & HEARD
by Jordan Scott ; illustrated by Sydney Smith ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2020
An astounding articulation of both what it feels like to be different and how to make peace with it.
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Schneider Family Book Award Winner
A young boy describes how it feels to stutter and how his father’s words see him through “bad speech day[s].”
Lyrical, painfully acute language and absorbing, atmospheric illustrations capture, with startling clarity, this school-age child’s daily struggle with speech. Free verse emulates the pauses of interrupted speech while slowing down the reading, allowing the words to settle. When coupled with powerful metaphors, the effect is gut-wrenching: “The P / in pine tree / grows roots / inside my mouth / and tangles / my tongue.” Dappled paintings inspire empathy as well, with amorphous scenes infused with the uncertainty that defines both the boy’s unpredictable speech and his melancholy. Specificity arrives in the artwork solely at the river, where boy and father go after a particularly bad morning. Scenery comes into focus, and readers feel the boy’s relief in this refuge where he can breathe deeply, be quiet, and think clearly. At this extraordinary book’s center, a double gatefold shows the child wading in shimmering waters, his back to readers, his face toward sunlight. His father pulls his son close and muses that the boy “talk[s] like a river,” choppy in places, churning in others, and smooth beyond. (Father and son both appear White.) Young readers will turn this complex idea over in their minds again and again. The author includes a moving autobiographical essay prompting readers to think even further about speech, sounds, communication, self-esteem, and sympathy.
An astounding articulation of both what it feels like to be different and how to make peace with it. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-8234-4559-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Neal Porter/Holiday House
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
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