With Souza’s book, this could have bookended the Obama years. But it’s more of a bookend and a paperweight.
Lucidon’s adaptation of her adult book Chasing Light (2017) for the kindergarten-to–second-grade set aims for the photographic splendor of Pete Souza’s Dream Big Dreams (2017), which celebrates what made the Obama administration both historic and extraordinary.
The author gives context for the first lady’s roles as well as the role of a White House photographer and the White House itself, including descriptions of the storied hued rooms. Within that framework, Lucidon shows Michelle Obama performing her duties inside and outside what she called “the People’s House.” However, it’s arguable that enough books exist detailing the duties and the building. What readers likely want from this book is to understand what exactly made Obama’s tenure as incredible as her husband’s. For example, the author calls Obama “Visitor-in-Chief,” but she most famously called herself “Mom-in-Chief” and validated many black mothers in a national discourse that constantly denigrates them. Considering this, it’s regrettable that the book includes relatively few photos of Obama with her family. Other missed opportunities abound, as when Lucidon fails to explain why black girls dancing under Lincoln’s portrait is significant in light of Obama’s first ladyship even as she acknowledges it is “a special moment in history.”
With Souza’s book, this could have bookended the Obama years. But it’s more of a bookend and a paperweight. (Nonfiction. 4-7)Pub Date: Oct. 23, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-525-64400-2
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
The artistic condescension and incongruities make this a marginal offering at best.
On Dec. 12, 1531, in newly colonized Mexico City, the Virgin Mary appeared to an Aztec farmer, Juan Diego, and spoke to him in Nahuatl, his native language, telling him to ask the bishop to build her church.
Despite Mary’s command, the Spanish bishop refused to comply until, after repeat visits, Juan Diego opened his cloak and roses cascaded out, revealing the image of Mary with the skin tone and features of an Indigenous Mexican woman. The bishop finally relented and had the church built on the hill of Tepeyac, where millions visit to this day. Demi’s retelling is both often at odds with the historical record and unabashedly Euro-centric: “In 1519 AD, the powerful Spanish conquistador, Hernan Cortes, landed in Mexico.” Cortes arguably was not a “conquistador” prior to the Mexican campaign. He had been a bureaucrat and owner of Indigenous slaves in Hispaniola and Cuba. Additionally, Demi’s familiar style is incongruous against the setting of 16th-century Mexico. Juan Diego and his fellow Aztecs are garbed in sombreros and clothing from the Mexican Revolution—more than 300 years in the future—and the Spanish conquistadors bear a resemblance to images of Mongol warriors. Furthermore, the Virgin herself appears more Asian then Aztec, and Juan Diego’s childlike depiction belies the fact that he was 57 at the time. Demi also fails to portray the modern basilica even though she ends her retelling in modern Mexico.
The artistic condescension and incongruities make this a marginal offering at best. (further information) (Informational picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 7, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-937786-73-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Wisdom Tales
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
A timely if unpolished entry in the Little People, BIG DREAMS series.
A first introduction to the greatest scientist of the past half-century.
Hawking makes a worthy but not an easy subject for an elementary-grade profile, as the likelihood that younger audiences aren’t really up on the ins and outs of quantum theory or gravitational singularities limits the author’s tally of his scientific contributions to a mention (sans meaningful context) of “Hawking radiation.” His other claim to fame, as an exemplar of the triumph of mind over physical disability, is far easier to grasp. For this, Hunt’s cartoon-style illustrations of a smiling scientist with idealized features on an oversized head help reinforce the notion that, as Hawking put it, “However difficult life may seem, there is always something that you can do and succeed at.” He leans on a cane before a wall of mathematical notations, takes his children for a spin on his wheelchair, and lectures to a rapt audience. The author (or an uncredited translator) uses some inept phrasing—a bald observation that eventually he “lost his voice and found a new one with a robotic drawl” can only leave readers confused, for instance. Illustrations of crowds place the white scientist among diverse gatherings. A closing note offers photos and a bit more detail plus a trio of titles for older readers.
A timely if unpolished entry in the Little People, BIG DREAMS series. (Picture book/biography. 5-7)Pub Date: Feb. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-78603-333-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Frances Lincoln
Review Posted Online: Nov. 25, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2018
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