In today’s political climate, a book on this topic can be very important, but this one misses the mark in spite of some of...
A celebration of diversity in the United States in pictures, poetry, and prose.
Mediocre but accessible five-line poems and explanatory text could serve a variety of audiences, as both a poetry read-aloud and a nonfiction text that might spur kids to do more research, if only there were some sources listed. The quality of the paintings and drawings by “nationally acclaimed” artists really varies, from Doug Bowles’ sensitive portrait in pastels of Emma Lazarus with an abstract Statue of Liberty crown, on the “P is for Poem” page, to Laura Knorr’s old-fashioned stereotypical international children on the “C is for Cultures” and the “D is for Diversity” double-page spread. Middle graders will start to understand some important issues surrounding immigrants (both documented and undocumented) and refugees, but without a chronological framework, young people will have a difficult time grasping the real historical significance of diversity in the U.S. In this “Celebration of America’s Diversity” the author has barely scratched the surface of anti-immigrant feeling in the U.S., with one paragraph on the “E is for Ellis Island” page mentioning anti-Asian laws and the detainment policies that kept some people on Angel Island for years.
In today’s political climate, a book on this topic can be very important, but this one misses the mark in spite of some of the interesting facts it contains. (Informational picture book/poetry. 7-11)Pub Date: April 15, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-58536-402-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2018
A stimulating outing to the furthest reaches of our knowledge, certain to inspire deep thoughts.
From a Caldecott and Sibert honoree, an invitation to take a mind-expanding journey from the surface of our planet to the furthest reaches of the observable cosmos.
Though Chin’s assumption that we are even capable of understanding the scope of the universe is quixotic at best, he does effectively lead viewers on a journey that captures a sense of its scale. Following the model of Kees Boeke’s classic Cosmic View: The Universe in Forty Jumps (1957), he starts with four 8-year-old sky watchers of average height (and different racial presentations). They peer into a telescope and then are comically startled by the sudden arrival of an ostrich that is twice as tall…and then a giraffe that is over twice as tall as that…and going onward and upward, with ellipses at each page turn connecting the stages, past our atmosphere and solar system to the cosmic web of galactic superclusters. As he goes, precisely drawn earthly figures and features in the expansive illustrations give way to ever smaller celestial bodies and finally to glimmering swirls of distant lights against gulfs of deep black before ultimately returning to his starting place. A closing recap adds smaller images and additional details. Accompanying the spare narrative, valuable side notes supply specific lengths or distances and define their units of measure, accurately explain astronomical phenomena, and close with the provocative observation that “the observable universe is centered on us, but we are not in the center of the entire universe.”
A stimulating outing to the furthest reaches of our knowledge, certain to inspire deep thoughts. (afterword, websites, further reading) (Informational picture book. 8-10)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-8234-4623-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Neal Porter/Holiday House
Review Posted Online: April 11, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
PERSPECTIVES
In a word: Wonderful.
A spelling-bee champ welcomes readers to the zesty, awesome world of wording wizardry.
Whether you recite it from A to Z or in reverse, the alphabet’s cool, not to mention the words you can build by combining its letters in myriad ways. Such is the premise of this cheerful book that lists 26 empowering words, from Z to A—Avant-garde’s own initials—each beginning with a different letter of the alphabet (except X, for which extraordinary subs). Each word is a favorite of the teen author, who in 2021 became the first African American to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee. The word list begins and ends with the author’s own names (Zaila, meaning “mighty, powerful,” and Avant-garde, “to be at the forefront”). On each page, the same word appears three to five times, printed in boldfaced type, alongside brief, thought-provoking, upbeat observations. The words cavort spiritedly on the page in hyphenated form (“L-A-U-G-H-T-E-R,” “K-I-N-D-N-E-S-S”), inviting readers to draw their pronunciations out slowly, as if to playfully savor their “feel.” A pithy quotation from luminaries such as Albert Einstein, Sitting Bull, and Shakira accompanies each word. Energetic, bold illustrations featuring dynamic patterns and characters diverse in skin tone, age, and physical ability greatly enliven the book. Readers should be strongly encouraged to create personal word lists and commentaries. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
In a word: Wonderful. (the origins of Zaila’s words of wonder) (Picture book. 7-10)Pub Date: June 27, 2023
ISBN: 9780593568934
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: April 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
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