An inspiring though incomplete story of adversity and discrimination.
An African-American football player is denied an American football career.
Born in a segregated town in Ohio in 1950, Chuck Ealey, African-American, grew up to be a great football quarterback in Canada. His childhood was one of poverty and hunger, but Chuck found a pastime—throwing rocks at passing freight trains. His aim became so good that the school coach named him quarterback, a position that did not please his white opponents. Ealey’s daughter, who previously wrote an adult biography of Ealey also called The Stone Thrower (2012), here pens an inspirational story about her father. Unfortunately, though the author does not shy away from the hardships of Ealey’s youth, it is only in her brief afterword that readers learn that American football teams did not want an African-American in the glamorous position of quarterback, often considered the team’s leadership spot. Ealey, despite stellar high school and college records, had to play in Canada. With sports biographies so focused on baseball players of color, it is a good thing to have a title about a football player, but it’s too bad the information about his career after college is not in the story itself. James’ pen, ink, and acrylic art on Masonite is richly saturated in color and captures each vignette in a lively fashion.
An inspiring though incomplete story of adversity and discrimination. (Picture book/biography. 6-8)Pub Date: May 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-55498-752-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Groundwood
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2016
Amusing but a little off tempo.
It’s important to hit all the right notes.
A tan-skinned musical composer with puffy black hair is busy at work on his next musical masterpiece when Half Note, a music symbol denoting two beats, feels unappreciated. Half Note is jealous of the more commonly used Quarter Note (one beat) and Eighth Note. Although the other musical symbols attempt to calm and comfort Half Note, she decides to run away. The next day, Composer needs Half Note and panics when he realizes that she’s gone. The other notes and musical symbols try to find her, but it’s only when they try to play her favorite song, “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” without her—with terrible results—that she comes running back. The story’s humor—which is largely based on “dad joke” puns—is completely dependent on readers’ musical knowledge. The artwork, a mix of acrylic and colored pencil, attempts to add some allegrezza to the piece, and while it’s not unsuccessful, it’s facing an uphill battle. Music teachers and musically minded caregivers may find some value in this story, but it will likely be too specialized for general readers. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Amusing but a little off tempo. (glossary) (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: March 14, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-64567-631-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Page Street
Review Posted Online: Dec. 23, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A lovely vision for small, sensitive existentialists.
Under the desert night sky, Dad helps his child find cosmic comfort.
The vast universe has made a child feel too small despite their close family. Until, the young narrator tells us, they and their father pack their old pickup, driving through the “rubber and french fries” smell of the city and the “sweet and smoky” mountain scent to camp off-road in a remote arroyo. Together they see tiny beetle prints, jump in sand dunes, name birds, build a fire, watch the sunset, and stretch out in the truck bed. A thoughtful, small human, the child admits to being scared of “how big the universe is and how it goes on and on forever.” But equally thoughtful Dad explains that stars, beetles, birds, and even people are made of energy. Angst is not easily tamed, but snuggling and giving the constellations idiosyncratic names help, as does Mom’s back-at-home surprise: glowing stars covering the narrator’s room. In this bed under the stars, this budding philosopher finally feels “at home here in the universe.” It’s a quiet, contemplative tale that might not strike a chord with all readers but will reassure those who share the protagonist’s worries. Delicate, realistic art plays warm orange and brown hues against blues from pale to indigo, balancing (living) warmth and (interstellar) distance. The child and family are light-skinned and redheaded. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A lovely vision for small, sensitive existentialists. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: April 4, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-5362-1239-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2023
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