An inspiring and appealing snapshot of a strong woman and activist, her world and her legacy, told with warmth and charm
A city is more than the sum of its parts!
Full of curiosity from a young age, Jane is a keen observer. Colorful and appealing illustrations tinged with gentle humor show Jane as she explains how the world around her functions to a cadre of imaginary friends. She discovers that manholes look like waffles, and she later sees that gas, water, steam, electricity, and sewage all have their places in structures underground. Animals, plants, and weather are part of an ecosystem. And a city is an ecosystem, too. “It is made of different parts—sidewalks, parks, stores, neighborhoods, City Hall…and people, of course. When they all work together, the city is healthy.” As an adult, Jane becomes a journalist, marries, has children, and fights against city planners who want to tear down neighborhoods to build a series of high-rises. When her own community comes under fire, Jane Jacobs becomes a full-fledged activist, joining rallies, writing letters, and even closing off a park to effectively stand up against big developers who initially dismiss her as a mere mother. While notably addressing character traits such as resilience and integrity, the accessible text is infused with a sense of joie de vivre and a love of cities and community, very successfully showing how social action can develop from belief, dedication, and enthusiasm. Boivin’s soft-edged illustrations depict appealing urban neighborhoods populated by diverse residents who surround Jacobs as the determined, bespectacled white woman ages with vigor.
An inspiring and appealing snapshot of a strong woman and activist, her world and her legacy, told with warmth and charm . (Picture book/biography. 4-8)Pub Date: April 3, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-77138-653-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: Jan. 21, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2018
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Bridges Goes to School, but here the sensibility is more personal, and the sometimes-shocking historical photos have been replaced by uplifting painted scenes.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
PERSPECTIVES
A good-enough introduction to a contested festivity but one that’s not in step with the community it’s for.
An overview of the modern African-American holiday.
This book arrives at a time when black people in the United States have had intraracial—some serious, some snarky—conversations about Kwanzaa’s relevance nowadays, from its patchwork inspiration that flattens the cultural diversity of the African continent to a single festive story to, relatedly, the earnest blacker-than-thou pretentiousness surrounding it. Both the author and consultant Keith A. Mayes take great pains—and in painfully simplistic language—to provide a context that attempts to refute the internal arguments as much as it informs its intended audience. In fact, Mayes says in the endnotes that young people are Kwanzaa’s “largest audience and most important constituents” and further extends an invitation to all races and ages to join the winter celebration. However, his “young people represent the future” counterpoint—and the book itself—really responds to an echo of an argument, as black communities have moved the conversation out to listen to African communities who critique the holiday’s loose “African-ness” and deep American-ness and moved on to commemorate holidays that have a more historical base in black people’s experiences in the United States, such as Juneteenth. In this context, the explications of Kwanzaa’s principles and symbols and the smattering of accompanying activities feel out of touch.
A good-enough introduction to a contested festivity but one that’s not in step with the community it’s for. (resources, bibliography, glossary, afterword) (Nonfiction. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4263-2849-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: National Geographic Kids
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2017
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