A substantive and affirming addition to any collection.
An impressive array of names, events, and concepts from Black history are introduced in this alphabet book for early-elementary readers.
From A for anthem(“a banner of song / that wraps us in hope, lets us know we belong”) to Z for zenith(“the top of that mountain King said we would reach”), this picture book is a journey through episodes, ideas, and personalities that represent a wide range of Black experiences. Some spreads celebrate readers themselves, like B for beautiful(“I’m talking to you!”); others celebrate accomplishments, such as E for explore(Matthew Henson, Mae Jemison), or experiences, like G for the Great Migration. The rhyming verses are light on the tongue, making the reading smooth and soothing. The brightly colored, folk art–style illustrations offer vibrant scenes of historical and contemporary Black life, with common people and famous people represented in turn. Whether reading straight through and poring over each page or flipping about to look at the refreshing scenes full of brown and black faces, readers will feel pride and admiration for the resilience and achievements of Black people and a call to participate in the “unfinished…American tale.” Endnotes clarify terms and figures, and a resource list includes child-friendly books, websites, museums, and poems.
A substantive and affirming addition to any collection. (Informational picture book. 6-11)Pub Date: Dec. 8, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5235-0749-8
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Workman
Review Posted Online: Sept. 28, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An inclusive and inspiring look at significant aspects of women’s history.
From affirmation to zeal, and from Maya Angelou to Zora Neale Hurston—people and principles that made change.
Similar in format to the creators’ The ABCs of Black History (2020), this book celebrates many of the influential figures and important ideals crucial to women’s history over the past 70 years. Rhymes and rhythm move readers energetically through the selected milestones and figures. If the beats and matching sounds are sometimes uneven, the message comes across loud and clear: Women have made essential contributions in every field, and you, reader, can do so, too. Most of the women cited in the text (and given expanded background information in the backmatter) are North Americans, with a few exceptions (Greta Thunberg, Wangari Maathai, Ada Lovelace, Malala Yousafzai). Among those highlighted are author Joan Didion, poet Naomi Shihab Nye, actor Anna May Wong, activist Angela Davis, scientist Katherine Johnson, activist Rosa Parks, athletes Venus and Serena Williams, and painter Frida Kahlo. These women share the stage with the important abstractions they embody, including courage, freedom, justice, knowledge, pride, persistence, resourcefulness, and solidarity. Jazzy, stylized illustrations depict characters diverse in skin color, ability, and more. A rainbow of hues and variations of composition and perspective keep the art fresh and eye-catching.
An inclusive and inspiring look at significant aspects of women’s history. (Informational picture book. 6-11)Pub Date: Jan. 14, 2025
ISBN: 9781523523290
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Workman
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Science at its best: informative and gross.
Why not? Because “IT’S FULL OF GERMS.”
Of course, Ben-Barak rightly notes, so is everything else—from your socks to the top of Mount Everest. Just to demonstrate, he invites readers to undertake an exploratory adventure (only partly imaginary): First touch a certain seemingly blank spot on the page to pick up a microbe named Min, then in turn touch teeth, shirt, and navel to pick up Rae, Dennis, and Jake. In the process, readers watch crews of other microbes digging cavities (“Hey kid, brush your teeth less”), spreading “lovely filth,” and chowing down on huge rafts of dead skin. For the illustrations, Frost places dialogue balloons and small googly-eyed cartoon blobs of diverse shape and color onto Rundgren’s photographs, taken using a scanning electron microscope, of the fantastically rugged surfaces of seemingly smooth paper, a tooth, textile fibers, and the jumbled crevasses in a belly button. The tour concludes with more formal introductions and profiles for Min and the others: E. coli, Streptococcus, Aspergillus niger, and Corynebacteria. “Where will you take Min tomorrow?” the author asks teasingly. Maybe the nearest bar of soap.
Science at its best: informative and gross. (Informational picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: June 5, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-250-17536-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Neal Porter/Roaring Brook
Review Posted Online: April 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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