This inspired collaboration adds a heightened poetic dimension to readers’ understanding of Chagall’s life and art.
U.S. Children’s Poet Laureate Lewis and the prolific Yolen team up for a celebratory picture-book biography in verse of the 20th century painter and designer Marc Chagall (1887-1985) that may quickly become a favorite of art-loving families and museum docents.
This handsome book is amply illustrated with archival photos, spot art from Chagall’s oeuvre and, most importantly, 14 full-color reproductions of Chagall’s affecting, mystical, sometimes surreal re-imaginings of his Jewish childhood in Eastern Europe, paintings that swell with touching imagery of joy, loss and beauty. Most of the book’s two-page spreads include an evocative poem (by either Lewis or Yolen) inspired by or reflecting upon the painting on the facing page. These spreads also feature informative, telling biographical briefs that anchor the art and beautifully crafted poetry to Chagall’s long, incident-rich life and artistic career. Details about each painting’s size, medium, date and provenance also add interest. Chagall’s work is represented in over 40 museums in North America, and teachers and parents often find his work particularly accessible and appealing to children who readily and eagerly decode his imagery, making this book useful as well is beautiful.
This inspired collaboration adds a heightened poetic dimension to readers’ understanding of Chagall’s life and art. (Picture book/poetry/biography. 11 & up)Pub Date: Dec. 15, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-56846-211-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Creative Editions/Creative Company
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2011
An intimate novel that beautifully confronts grief and loss.
It’s 1983, and 13-year-old Indian American Reha feels caught between two worlds.
Monday through Friday, she goes to a school where she stands out for not being White but where she has a weekday best friend, Rachel, and does English projects with potential crush Pete. On the weekends, she’s with her other best friend, Sunita (Sunny for short), at gatherings hosted by her Indian community. Reha feels frustrated that her parents refuse to acknowledge her Americanness and insist on raising her with Indian values and habits. Then, on the night of the middle school dance, her mother is admitted to the hospital, and Reha’s world is split in two again: this time, between hospital and home. Suddenly she must learn not just how to be both Indian and American, but also how to live with her mother’s leukemia diagnosis. The sections dealing with Reha’s immigrant identity rely on oft-told themes about the overprotectiveness of immigrant parents and lack the nuance found in later pages. Reha’s story of her evolving relationships with her parents, however, feels layered and real, and the scenes in which Reha must grapple with the possible loss of a parent are beautifully and sensitively rendered. The sophistication of the text makes it a valuable and thought-provoking read even for those older than the protagonist.
An intimate novel that beautifully confronts grief and loss. (Verse novel. 11-15)Pub Date: Feb. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-304742-6
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Nov. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2020
Concisely captures big, serious ideas about life and relationships.
An eighth grader in Greenwich Village finds solace in a kindred spirit during turbulent times.
Emily has loved books ever since leaving the orphanage in China to live with her white adoptive parents. But now that she’s been forced to move to Chien-Shiung Wu School (“named for a physicist who… // …was a total badass”), reading is a lifeline. Losing touch with her best friends and the scariness of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic are bad enough. Even worse: Almost everyone at her new school speaks Cantonese and is already learning Mandarin. It’s just Emily and a few white and Black kids who are beginning speakers. Her family expects her to feel grateful for a chance to “get in touch with her roots.” Instead she feels exposed, embarrassed by her lack of cultural and linguistic knowledge. Amid her loneliness, she discovers Emily Dickinson, whose poems help her process complicated feelings about adoption, loss, race, and belonging. There’s also a mysterious connection between the two Emilys—could Dickinson’s ghost be guiding Emily to open up to new possibilities like making friends? Many readers will find this verse novel’s approach to Dickinson’s poems illuminating: They’re riddles to be solved, presented alongside contemporary Emily’s rephrased passages. Insights from adults in Emily’s life offer wisdom that readers may find thought provoking, although they may wish for some humor to offer occasional reprieve from the heavy themes.
Concisely captures big, serious ideas about life and relationships. (books and art referenced) (Verse fiction. 11-14)Pub Date: Aug. 27, 2024
ISBN: 9780593567012
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Make Me a World
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2024
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