This high-flying book will send readers’ imaginations soaring.
Two American icons “met” high above New York Harbor one morning in 1909.
On Sept. 29, 1909, Wilbur Wright, co-inventor of the airplane, piloted his Wright Flyer around the Statue of Liberty for six and a half minutes. Awestruck spectators, most of whom had never witnessed a flight, included journalists, photographers, and 10-year-old Juan Trippe and his parents. Adding to the spectacle were numerous boats in the harbor, including the Lusitania. Though confident, Wright nevertheless attached a red canoe to the bottom of his plane—just in case—before rising to circle the pale-green Liberty and make the first-ever flight over New York City. Afterward, the crowds roared. Burleigh relates this exciting, little-known event from two perspectives. Children read/hear the voices of Juan and his parents (set in italicized type), making their presence immediate. This punctuates the dramatic third-person narration, expressed in a terse present tense that adds suspense. Minor’s splendid illustrations offer numerous grand perspectives and are rendered in lush watercolors, providing appropriate airiness and lending nostalgia; the scenes depicting Juan and his parents are sepia toned. Wright and the Trippes appear White. Front endpapers reproduce a newspaper account of the event; the backmatter contains excellent additional information, including a map. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at 83.8% of actual size.)
This high-flying book will send readers’ imaginations soaring. (author's note, illustrator's note, bibliography, source notes) (Informational picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: March 9, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-62779-368-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano/Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Dec. 24, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2021
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
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
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