Babies love looking at pictures of other babies, so this book should get plenty of use.
Sweet black-and-white photographs show babies and the people who surround them communicating in ways that go beyond words.
Close-up photographs show babies of different cultural and ethnic backgrounds rubbing noses and being kissed, held, cuddled, or read to. Women, men, and a sibling, perhaps, make appearances. Each photograph is accompanied by simple patterned sentences that spell out the different ways of communicating. “I hold you tight / and you hold me. // Yo te abrazo / y tú me abrazas”; “I play with you / and you play with me. // Yo juego contigo / y tú juegas conmigo.” All of these statements our followed by the same refrain, “I talk to you / and you talk to me. // Yo hablo contigo / y tú hablas conmigo.” The photographs are framed with a touch of color that is also the color used for the Spanish text, while the English text remains black, thus making the Spanish text pop. The text is also framed and surrounded by simple geometrical shapes—hearts, stars, circles, flowers—that give a pleasing visual appeal to the whole and will help to hold the attention of babies.
Babies love looking at pictures of other babies, so this book should get plenty of use. (Board book. 3-18 mos.)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-78285-350-3
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Barefoot Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 17, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2018
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
Wow.
The stories of the births of the universe, the planet Earth, and a human child are told in this picture book.
Bauer begins with cosmic nothing: “In the dark / in the deep, deep dark / a speck floated / invisible as thought / weighty as God.” Her powerful words build the story of the creation of the universe, presenting the science in poetic free verse. First, the narrative tells of the creation of stars by the Big Bang, then the explosions of some of those stars, from which dust becomes the matter that coalesces into planets, then the creation of life on Earth: a “lucky planet…neither too far / nor too near…its yellow star…the Sun.” Holmes’ digitally assembled hand-marbled paper-collage illustrations perfectly pair with the text—in fact the words and illustrations become an inseparable whole, as together they both delineate and suggest—the former telling the story and the latter, with their swirling colors suggestive of vast cosmos, contributing the atmosphere. It’s a stunning achievement to present to readers the factual events that created the birth of the universe, the planet Earth, and life on Earth with such an expressive, powerful creativity of words paired with illustrations so evocative of the awe and magic of the cosmos. But then the story goes one brilliant step further and gives the birth of a child the same beginning, the same sense of magic, the same miracle.
Wow. (Picture book. 3-8)Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-7636-7883-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2018
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