by Monica Brown ; illustrated by Rosa Ibarra ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 3, 2024
A loving salute to a powerful woman who dedicated herself to helping others.
An affectionate tribute to the first alcaldesa (female mayor) of San Juan, Puerto Rico…or any other capital city in the Americas.
Standing tall and often a little larger than the sanjuaneros and country jíbaros around her in Ibarra’s warmly colored tropical scenes and always (as Brown repeatedly mentions) wearing flowers in her hair, Felisa Rincón de Gautier (1897-1994) cuts a strong and confident figure in this loving remembrance. That strength of character is evident throughout her history: She defied her father to become only the fifth woman on the island to register to vote and once broke into a school to provide a shelter for families displaced by a hurricane. Starting in 1947, through five terms in office, she went on to bring her constituents health clinics and better public services. She also opened the first preschools on the island—an initiative that inspired, the author notes, the U.S.’ Head Start program. Her empathy for her constituency is palpable; readers learn that she invited people into city hall on a weekly basis to hear their problems. Though a photo of her in the afterword actually kissing a baby looks staged, her sense of fun and her regard for children come through clearly as well.
A loving salute to a powerful woman who dedicated herself to helping others. (glossary, artist’s note) (Picture-book biography. 6-9)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2024
ISBN: 9780316178358
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2024
Share your opinion of this book
More by Monica Brown
BOOK REVIEW
by Monica Brown ; translated by Cinthya Miranda-McIntosh ; illustrated by Adriana M. Garcia
BOOK REVIEW
by Monica Brown ; illustrated by Mirelle Ortega
BOOK REVIEW
by Monica Brown , illustrated by Emily Balsley translated by Cinthya Miranda-McIntosh
by Chris Paul ; illustrated by Courtney Lovett ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 10, 2023
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
Share your opinion of this book
More by Chris Paul
BOOK REVIEW
by Chris Paul & illustrated by Frank Morrison
by Brad Meltzer ; illustrated by Christopher Eliopoulos ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 10, 2019
Blandly laudatory.
The iconic animator introduces young readers to each “happy place” in his life.
The tally begins with his childhood home in Marceline, Missouri, and climaxes with Disneyland (carefully designed to be “the happiest place on Earth”), but the account really centers on finding his true happy place, not on a map but in drawing. In sketching out his early flubs and later rocket to the top, the fictive narrator gives Ub Iwerks and other Disney studio workers a nod (leaving his labor disputes with them unmentioned) and squeezes in quick references to his animated films, from Steamboat Willie to Winnie the Pooh (sans Fantasia and Song of the South). Eliopoulos incorporates stills from the films into his cartoon illustrations and, characteristically for this series, depicts Disney as a caricature, trademark mustache in place on outsized head even in childhood years and child sized even as an adult. Human figures default to white, with occasional people of color in crowd scenes and (ahistorically) in the animation studio. One unidentified animator builds up the role-modeling with an observation that Walt and Mickey were really the same (“Both fearless; both resourceful”). An assertion toward the end—“So when do you stop being a child? When you stop dreaming”—muddles the overall follow-your-bliss message. A timeline to the EPCOT Center’s 1982 opening offers photos of the man with select associates, rodent and otherwise. An additional series entry, I Am Marie Curie, publishes simultaneously, featuring a gowned, toddler-sized version of the groundbreaking physicist accepting her two Nobel prizes.
Blandly laudatory. (bibliography) (Picture book/biography. 6-8)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-7352-2875-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2019
Share your opinion of this book
More In The Series
by Brad Meltzer ; illustrated by Christopher Eliopoulos
by Brad Meltzer ; illustrated by Christopher Eliopoulos
More by Brad Meltzer
BOOK REVIEW
by Brad Meltzer ; illustrated by Christopher Eliopoulos
BOOK REVIEW
by Brad Meltzer ; illustrated by Dan Santat
BOOK REVIEW
by Brad Meltzer ; illustrated by Christopher Eliopoulos
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Hey there, book lover.
We’re glad you found a book that interests you!
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Don’t fret. We’ll find you.