Forceful and compelling.
A retelling of a legendary princess’s life.
A proud cry from her father announces the birth of Mongolian Princess Khutulun amid a starry night. The daughter of the khan and the great-great-granddaughter of Genghis Khan, Khutulun, like her 14 older brothers, trains to become a warrior and fulfill demanding duties. A boisterous child, she shadows her mother as she skillfully leads meetings and handles advisers. Yet Khutulun finds that she prefers a warrior’s life; she loves to hunt and wrestle alongside her brothers and yearns to ride “under the infinite sky.” Deng skillfully uses white space and textured colors and lines to bring kinetic energy to the narrative, as in a scene where horses charge across the pages when Khutulun joins her father in her first battle. When Khutulun reaches marriageable age, she announces a novel stipulation—she will only marry the man who can break her undefeated wrestling record. Her proclamation is tested when a wealthy challenger appears and her family pressures her to make a pragmatic alliance. Khutulun faces her greatest battle: whether to succumb to expectations or to forge her own path. Deng combines a sharp narrative with powerful imagery to fully capture the tenacity of the warrior princess. The author’s note admits to liberties with the story and explores further details of the princess’s life. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Forceful and compelling. (glossary) (Picture-book biography. 5-8)Pub Date: Aug. 23, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-374-38838-6
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
Self-serving to be sure but also chock-full of worthy values and sentiments.
The junior senator from California introduces family and friends as everyday superheroes.
The endpapers are covered with cascades of, mostly, early childhood snapshots (“This is me contemplating the future”—caregivers of toddlers will recognize that abstracted look). In between, Harris introduces heroes in her life who have shaped her character: her mom and dad, whose superpowers were, respectively, to make her feel special and brave; an older neighbor known for her kindness; grandparents in India and Jamaica who “[stood] up for what’s right” (albeit in unspecified ways); other relatives and a teacher who opened her awareness to a wider world; and finally iconic figures such as Thurgood Marshall and Constance Baker Motley who “protected people by using the power of words and ideas” and whose examples inspired her to become a lawyer. “Heroes are…YOU!” she concludes, closing with a bulleted Hero Code and a timeline of her legal and political career that ends with her 2017 swearing-in as senator. In group scenes, some of the figures in the bright, simplistic digital illustrations have Asian features, some are in wheelchairs, nearly all are people of color. Almost all are smiling or grinning. Roe provides everyone identified as a role model with a cape and poses the author, who is seen at different ages wearing an identifying heart pin or decoration, next to each.
Self-serving to be sure but also chock-full of worthy values and sentiments. (Picture book/memoir. 5-8)Pub Date: Jan. 8, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-984837-49-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Jan. 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2019
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