A superficial profile of an accomplished changemaker.
A fulsome tribute to Guatemala-born scientist and climate activist Nicole Hernández Hammer.
Padron begins by connecting her subject’s childhood experiences with natural disasters—an earthquake in Guatemala City and, following a family move to Miami, the devastation of Hurricane Andrew in 1992—to her later scientific studies but turns frustratingly vague when it comes to describing her actual work or achievements. Yes, she writes, Hammer has publicized how rising water tables have caused flooding on both “rainy days” and “sunny days” in certain unspecified south Florida areas, encouraged people of color in these and other threatened “frontline communities” to “tell their stories," and marched and spoken out for “climate justice.” What the term means or what inequities need to be addressed remain unclear, though, and instead of tallying specific local projects or proposals, the author highlights a single meet and greet with the Obamas in 2015 before closing with general lists of climate change facts and standard suggestions for budding activists. Her illustrations are likewise generic as she follows Hammer from childhood on to scenes in which she comforts flood victims, stands with a racially diverse crowd of protesters, and lectures a bored-looking silhouetted audience, a frozen-faced president and first lady, and a final set of general listeners with politely attentive expressions.
A superficial profile of an accomplished changemaker. (more information on Nicole Hernández Hammer, websites) (Picture-book biography. 6-8)Pub Date: June 11, 2024
ISBN: 9781665913942
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2024
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
Lighthearted and informative, though the premise may be a bit stretched.
An amiable introduction to our thrifty, sociable, teeming insect cousins.
Bunting notes that all the ants on Earth weigh roughly the same as all the people and observes that ants (like, supposedly, us) love recycling, helping others, and taking “micronaps.” They, too, live in groups, and their “superpower” is an ability to work together to accomplish amazing things. Bunting goes on to describe different sorts of ants within the colony (“Drone. Male. Does no housework. Takes to the sky. Reproduces. Drops dead”), how they communicate using pheromones, and how they get from egg to adult. He concludes that we could learn a lot from them that would help us leave our planet in better shape than it was when we arrived. If he takes a pass on mentioning a few less positive shared traits (such as our tendency to wage war on one another), still, his comparisons do invite young readers to observe the natural world more closely and to reflect on our connections to it. In the simple illustrations, generic black ants look up at viewers with little googly eyes while scurrying about the pages gathering food, keeping nests clean, and carrying outsized burdens.
Lighthearted and informative, though the premise may be a bit stretched. (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: March 19, 2024
ISBN: 9780593567784
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
PERSPECTIVES
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