It’s clear this book has a lot of love for the flag’s promise that “it’s okay to be your colorful, sparkly, glittery self,”...
A colorful tribute to Gilbert Baker and his rainbow flag.
Gilbert, “a little boy who was full of color and sparkle and glitter,” grew up “where everything was gray and dull and flat.” His grandmother’s clothing boutique supported his love for fashion, soon crushed by paternal disapproval. He could be “his colorful, sparkly, glittery self” only in San Francisco, moving there after his brief, disastrous military service. Surrounded by the city’s famed painted ladies, Gilbert rediscovers his passions, creating the rainbow flag after a conversation with Harvey Milk. The art is beautiful and bright, transitioning powerfully from a subdued Kansan landscape to a flamboyant Bay Area. Some textual shifts are jarring, as when Gilbert "received a letter that knocked every last bit of sparkle out of him” and is suddenly in uniform, with no explanation about the draft. Similarly, before the flag’s invention, “There was just one thing that continued to blemish their beautiful city. It was a symbol that, in Gilbert’s community, was a constant reminder of evil.” This confusing allusion to the pink triangle is explained only in the densely packed author’s note, and the word “gay” never appears in the story; readers must wait to learn about the rainbow’s direct connection to LGBTQ identities in the endnote.
It’s clear this book has a lot of love for the flag’s promise that “it’s okay to be your colorful, sparkly, glittery self,” but it elides a clear description of the communities it’s for. (Picture book/biography. 4-8)Pub Date: May 22, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4338-2902-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Magination/American Psychological Association
Review Posted Online: May 4, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2018
A striking visual representation of how the label “bad reader” can feel.
A slow reader gains confidence.
Strongly influenced by Talbott’s own childhood reading journey, a young tot with a mop of brown hair and pale skin loves art, but reading doesn’t come as naturally. Crayons and colored pencils create imaginative worlds, but the words on a page crowd together, forming an impenetrable wall, with the youngster barely able to peer over. The rest of the class seemingly soars ahead, turning page after page, but the books (in the protagonist’s mind) give chase, flying menacingly like a scene from Hitchcock: “And they were coming for me! / So many words! So many pages!” Talbott expertly captures the claustrophobic crush of unknown vocabulary, first as a downpour of squiggles from the sky, then as a gnarled, dark forest with words lining the branches. But reading slowly doesn’t mean not reading at all. The youngster learns to search for familiar words, using them as steppingstones. And there are advantages: “Slow readers savor the story!” There is even a “Slow Readers Hall of Fame” included, featuring Albert Einstein, Sojourner Truth, and many others. Talbott excels at evincing concepts visually, and this talent is in evidence here as his protagonist first struggles then gains mastery, surfing confidently down a wave of words. Patience and curiosity (along with some fierce determination) can unlock incredible stories. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A striking visual representation of how the label “bad reader” can feel. (author's note) (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 14, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-399-54871-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2021
A picture book more than worthy of sharing the shelf with Alan Schroeder and Jerry Pinkney’s Minty (1996) and Carole Boston...
A memorable, lyrical reverse-chronological walk through the life of an American icon.
In free verse, Cline-Ransome narrates the life of Harriet Tubman, starting and ending with a train ride Tubman takes as an old woman. “But before wrinkles formed / and her eyes failed,” Tubman could walk tirelessly under a starlit sky. Cline-Ransome then describes the array of roles Tubman played throughout her life, including suffragist, abolitionist, Union spy, and conductor on the Underground Railroad. By framing the story around a literal train ride, the Ransomes juxtapose the privilege of traveling by rail against Harriet’s earlier modes of travel, when she repeatedly ran for her life. Racism still abounds, however, for she rides in a segregated train. While the text introduces readers to the details of Tubman’s life, Ransome’s use of watercolor—such a striking departure from his oil illustrations in many of his other picture books—reveals Tubman’s humanity, determination, drive, and hope. Ransome’s lavishly detailed and expansive double-page spreads situate young readers in each time and place as the text takes them further into the past.
A picture book more than worthy of sharing the shelf with Alan Schroeder and Jerry Pinkney’s Minty (1996) and Carole Boston Weatherford and Kadir Nelson’s Moses (2006). (Picture book/biography. 5-8)Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-8234-2047-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Aug. 6, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2017
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