A distinctive selection that highlights an unknown heroine and her world as a lighthouse keeper.
A quiet life can contain multitudes.
In 1882, Kate Kaird, a German widow, and her young son, Jacob, arrived in the United States in search of a better life. Kate had no way of knowing that she would soon move to a lighthouse, be appointed an assistant keeper, and become one of the first female keepers of an offshore lighthouse on the East Coast. McCully’s loose, sweeping, yet specific illustrations combine seamlessly with Spires’ clear and engaging description of Kate’s new marriage to lighthouse keeper John Walker and subsequent relocation to a lighthouse in New York Bay. Daily rituals—the light was tended, the sirens were prepared to run during storms, and a boat was kept ready to be sent out in emergencies—are described with just the right amount of detail. At the same time, dramatic events show how a seemingly simple life of solitude (she was eventually appointed keeper after her husband’s death) can include action and heroics: Kate rescued more than 50 people before she retired at age 71. While not an obvious choice for a children’s biography, Kate comes alive through the combined talents of Spires and McCully, and their portrayal highlights how an ordinary woman can excel and pave the way for others by virtue of her dedication and fortitude. The illustrations reveal an all-White cast.
A distinctive selection that highlights an unknown heroine and her world as a lighthouse keeper. (biographical note, source notes, additional sources) (Picture book/biography. 6-10)Pub Date: Jan. 5, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-8234-4348-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Margaret Ferguson/Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2020
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
A reasonably solid grounding in constitutional rights, their flexibility, lacunae, and hard-won corrections, despite a few...
Shamir offers an investigation of the foundations of freedoms in the United States via its founding documents, as well as movements and individuals who had great impacts on shaping and reshaping those institutions.
The opening pages of this picture book get off to a wobbly start with comments such as “You know that feeling you get…when you see a wide open field that you can run through without worrying about traffic or cars? That’s freedom.” But as the book progresses, Shamir slowly steadies the craft toward that wide-open field of freedom. She notes the many obvious-to-us-now exclusivities that the founding political documents embodied—that the entitled, white, male authors did not extend freedom to enslaved African-Americans, Native Americans, and women—and encourages readers to learn to exercise vigilance and foresight. The gradual inclusion of these left-behind people paints a modestly rosy picture of their circumstances today, and the text seems to give up on explaining how Native Americans continue to be left behind. Still, a vital part of what makes freedom daunting is its constant motion, and that is ably expressed. Numerous boxed tidbits give substance to the bigger political picture. Who were the abolitionists and the suffragists, what were the Montgomery bus boycott and the “Uprising of 20,000”? Faulkner’s artwork conveys settings and emotions quite well, and his drawing of Ruby Bridges is about as darling as it gets. A helpful timeline and bibliography appear as endnotes.
A reasonably solid grounding in constitutional rights, their flexibility, lacunae, and hard-won corrections, despite a few misfires. (Informational picture book. 6-10)Pub Date: May 2, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-399-54728-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
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