A dynamic celebration with all-ages appeal.
Debut author/illustrator Reese’s alphabet picture book highlights Black artists, including painters, singers, musicians, photographers, dancers, and writers.
This beautiful abecedarian features 26 profoundly accomplished creatives, and although the book is specifically crafted for children, adults won’t want to miss out on it. Using the first or last names of subjects to represent each letter, Reese captures her notable subjects with brief, informative biographical notes as well as dynamic free-form poetry. The letter F represents Ella Fitzgerald: “Scatting bouncy song-bird notes / Full of light with hop-scotch perfection.” L is for modernist painter and muralist Jacob Lawrence: “Narrating African American migration, / Through a sharp and jagged history.” Vocalist, musician, and civil rights activist Nina Simone (N) is described in the text as an “African goddess of ocean-blue songs / A roaring voice of change and revolution.” Reese cleverly solves the X dilemma with “X is for 2 times the talent,” referring to the Nicholas Brothers, a famed tap-dancing duo. The book’s vivid illustrations mix abstract art, cartoons, line drawings, and other representational styles with images of objects and designs (books, a paint palette, pencils, and so on) that reflect the practices and spirits of those profiled.
A dynamic celebration with all-ages appeal.Pub Date: Nov. 28, 2022
ISBN: 9781088057285
Page Count: 58
Publisher: Bea and Jo Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 16, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Readers will agree that “Melba Doretta Liston was something special.”
Bewitched by the rhythms of jazz all around her in Depression-era Kansas City, little Melba Doretta Liston longs to make music in this fictional account of a little-known jazz great.
Picking up the trombone at 7, the little girl teaches herself to play with the support of her Grandpa John and Momma Lucille, performing on the radio at 8 and touring as a pro at just 17. Both text and illustrations make it clear that it’s not all easy for Melba; “The Best Service for WHITES ONLY” reads a sign in a hotel window as the narrative describes a bigotry-plagued tour in the South with Billie Holiday. But joy carries the day, and the story ends on a high note, with Melba “dazzling audiences and making headlines” around the world. Russell-Brown’s debut text has an innate musicality, mixing judicious use of onomatopoeia with often sonorous prose. Morrison’s sinuous, exaggerated lines are the perfect match for Melba’s story; she puts her entire body into her playing, the exaggerated arch of her back and thrust of her shoulders mirroring the curves of her instrument. In one thrilling spread, the evening gown–clad instrumentalist stands over the male musicians, her slide crossing the gutter while the back bow disappears off the page to the left. An impressive discography complements a two-page afterword and a thorough bibliography.
Readers will agree that “Melba Doretta Liston was something special.” (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: July 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-60060-898-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Lee & Low Books
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
A beautiful, powerful reflection on a tragic history.
In spare verse, Lowry reflects on moments in her childhood, including the bombings of Pearl Harbor and Hiroshima.
When she was a child, Lowry played at Waikiki Beach with her grandmother while her father filmed. In the old home movie, the USS Arizona appears through the mist on the horizon. Looking back at her childhood in Hawaii and then Japan, Lowry reflects on the bombings that began and ended a war and how they affected and connected everyone involved. In Part 1, she shares the lives and actions of sailors at Pearl Harbor. Part 2 is stories of civilians in Hiroshima affected by the bombing. Part 3 presents her own experience as an American in Japan shortly after the war ended. The poems bring the haunting human scale of war to the forefront, like the Christmas cards a sailor sent days before he died or the 4-year-old who was buried with his red tricycle after Hiroshima. All the personal stories—of sailors, civilians, and Lowry herself—are grounding. There is heartbreak and hope, reminding readers to reflect on the past to create a more peaceful future. Lowry uses a variety of poetry styles, identifying some, such as triolet and haiku. Pak’s graphite illustrations are like still shots of history, adding to the emotion and somber feeling. He includes some sailors of color among the mostly white U.S. forces; Lowry is white.
A beautiful, powerful reflection on a tragic history. (author’s note, bibliography) (Memoir/poetry. 10-14)Pub Date: April 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-358-12940-0
Page Count: 80
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2020
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