A visually stunning account of a fearless woman and her fight against the Nazis’ war on art.
An unlikely spy sets out to save priceless stolen artwork from the Nazis.
Rose Valland, curator at Paris’ Jeu de Paume Museum, especially loves modern art for its departure from convention and expectation. To Adolf Hitler, however, modern art is “contaminated” and “degenerate.” As World War II spreads through Europe, Hitler helps to pay for his expensive war by stealing and selling valuable artwork. Upon arriving at Rose’s museum, soldiers order everyone out except for Rose, who stays on as manager. Little do they know that she secretly speaks German and listens in on their nefarious plans. Unwittingly, Rose becomes a spy. As the Nazis catalogue and hide their treasures, Rose documents the movements of every piece of art she can, passing information to the French Resistance and putting her own life in grave danger. Richly detailed, painterly illustrations highlight the gravity of Rose’s work and some of the lesser-known struggles and losses of World War II. Particularly outstanding spreads depict an intricately detailed museum facade, a glowing cityscape, and a haunting, swirling bonfire where works of art are tossed like kindling. An appended historical note discusses the theft of innumerable treasures also stolen from Jewish people during the war, in addition to those plundered from museums like Rose’s.
A visually stunning account of a fearless woman and her fight against the Nazis’ war on art. (sources, author’s note) (Picture-book biography. 6-8)Pub Date: Sept. 16, 2025
ISBN: 9781534466173
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2025
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 unique angle on a watershed moment in the civil rights era.
The New Orleans school child who famously broke the color line in 1960 while surrounded by federal marshals describes the early days of her experience from a 6-year-old’s perspective.
Bridges told her tale to younger children in 2009’s Ruby Bridges Goes to School, but here the sensibility is more personal, and the sometimes-shocking historical photos have been replaced by uplifting painted scenes. “I didn’t find out what being ‘the first’ really meant until the day I arrived at this new school,” she writes. Unfrightened by the crowd of “screaming white people” that greets her at the school’s door (she thinks it’s like Mardi Gras) but surprised to find herself the only child in her classroom, and even the entire building, she gradually realizes the significance of her act as (in Smith’s illustration) she compares a small personal photo to the all-White class photos posted on a bulletin board and sees the difference. As she reflects on her new understanding, symbolic scenes first depict other dark-skinned children marching into classes in her wake to friendly greetings from lighter-skinned classmates (“School is just school,” she sensibly concludes, “and kids are just kids”) and finally an image of the bright-eyed icon posed next to a soaring bridge of reconciliation. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A unique angle on a watershed moment in the civil rights era. (author and illustrator notes, glossary) (Autobiographical picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-338-75388-2
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Orchard/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2022
PERSPECTIVES
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