The story’s familiarity takes away only some of its power and its urgency.
Sometimes history is chronicled in years. Sometimes it’s chronicled in minutes.
Almost anyone who has been to Hebrew school and many who haven’t know the basic facts of Anne Frank’s life: Her family hid for two years in a tiny annex. The Nazis found them, in spite of all their secrecy. Anne left a diary that ensured generations of readers would never forget the lives lost in the Holocaust. This new biography mentions each of those facts, but it focuses on smaller moments: Anne’s learning to walk, and then sashay, in high heels. Anne’s decorating the walls, comically, with pictures of chimpanzees. The book focuses in particular on Miep Gies, the gentile woman who helped them and then found the diary, and some of the details about her childhood are startling. An Austrian refugee, she was taken in during World War I by Dutch strangers who then raised her. (Gies and all of the historical figures depicted have pale skin.) The focus on details is both the book’s value and its chief flaw. It describes the moment-to-moment experience of life in an attic. Some of those moments are deeply moving, but some are mundane, a catalog of pots and pans and dirty clothes. Readers may find the book a bit less heartbreaking than others on Frank because the larger history is so familiar. The main facts have been told many times in many books. Toro’s illustrations, however, make every scene haunting, with dark shadows on the Franks’ faces, as though they’re covered with ash. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-18-inch double-page spreads viewed at 83% of actual size.)
The story’s familiarity takes away only some of its power and its urgency. (historical notes, bibliography, suggested reading) (Picture book/biography. 7-11)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5415-5725-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Kar-Ben
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A pivotal moment in a child’s life, at once stirring and authentically personal.
Before growing up to become a major figure in the civil rights movement, a boy finds a role model.
Buffing up a childhood tale told by her renowned father, Young Shelton describes how young Andrew saw scary men marching in his New Orleans neighborhood (“It sounded like they were yelling ‘Hi, Hitler!’ ”). In response to his questions, his father took him to see a newsreel of Jesse Owens (“a runner who looked like me”) triumphing in the 1936 Olympics. “Racism is a sickness,” his father tells him. “We’ve got to help folks like that.” How? “Well, you can start by just being the best person you can be,” his father replies. “It’s what you do that counts.” In James’ hazy chalk pastels, Andrew joins racially diverse playmates (including a White child with an Irish accent proudly displaying the nickel he got from his aunt as a bribe to stop playing with “those Colored boys”) in tag and other games, playing catch with his dad, sitting in the midst of a cheering crowd in the local theater’s segregated balcony, and finally visualizing himself pelting down a track alongside his new hero—“head up, back straight, eyes focused,” as a thematically repeated line has it, on the finish line. An afterword by Young Shelton explains that she retold this story, told to her many times growing up, drawing from conversations with Young and from her own research; family photos are also included. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A pivotal moment in a child’s life, at once stirring and authentically personal. (illustrator’s note) (Autobiographical picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-545-55465-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
Playful, provocative, and packed with perspective.
Did Christopher Columbus really “discover” a new world? Did the Pilgrims invite the Wampanoag to a friendly First Thanksgiving? Is July 4 truly the nation’s birthday?
Readers familiar with traditional narratives of America’s founding are invited to interrogate those myths in this interactive exploration of early U.S. history. A strong introductory framework asks whose stories endure and whose have been erased from the history books, emphasizing that Indigenous peoples remain part of the present, not just the past. Each spread presents a common misconception, then asks readers to flip assumptions aside by lifting a partial gatefold that reveals the true story beneath. Well-sourced explanations elevate figures and communities often excluded from history books, including women, Black Americans, and Indigenous peoples. Bold colors, graphic-heavy layouts, and energetic illustrations that make creative use of historical photos and images break complex ideas into bite-size pieces that encourage browsing over linear reading. A timeline, speech bubbles, and lift-the-flap “True or False” quizzes reinforce the book’s core message: History is layered, debatable, and dynamic. Though the book’s busy, nonlinear design may prove challenging for some, on the whole it works very well as an engaging historical overview. The content assumes a foundational knowledge of early U.S. history, making it most suitable for older elementary readers, though some visual choices skew younger. Backmatter includes more historical information and background on the book’s creation.
Playful, provocative, and packed with perspective. (glossary, resources, photo credits) (Nonfiction. 9-11)Pub Date: May 26, 2026
ISBN: 9798888599082
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Barefoot Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2026
PERSPECTIVES
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