A moving biography of a resourceful and resilient blues musician.
A musical prodigy adapted to setbacks with innovation.
Music surrounded young CeDell Davis. Not just any old music, but the “deep-down, stir-your-heart, rattle-your-bones blues,” the kind that “cuts like a knife.” First on a harmonica, then “a homemade diddley bow,” and finally on “a genuine six-string beauty” (a Silvertone acoustic guitar), Davis strummed and blew and poured music from his soul at every opportunity. Laid up at 10 with a long bout of polio, he ached to play his beloved blues again. When his recovery left his hands too weak to play guitar the usual way, Davis improvised. Clutching one of his mother’s butter knives, he plucked with his left hand and used the knife to fret the guitar. His newfound technique allowed him to continue his impassioned, anytime-anywhere blues playing, which evolved into a storied career for an unstoppable genius “with a sound like no other.” Peterson’s copy is cleanly set in blank spaces among Christie’s soulful illustrations. The visuals frequently capture Davis in profiled portraiture with a solemn, downward gaze, the African American musician mostly rendered in cool turquoise amid textured cherry red acrylic gouache. An author’s note (with photos) further contextualizes the lyrical, fittingly rhythmic text about this Delta blues pioneer. Many readers will likely be unfamiliar with Davis; this story offers a deeply empathetic portrayal of his disability experience and his adaptations.
A moving biography of a resourceful and resilient blues musician. (bibliography, picture credits) (Picture-book biography. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 8, 2026
ISBN: 9781662681011
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Calkins Creek/Astra Books for Young Readers
Review Posted Online: Aug. 3, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2026
A supplemental rather than introductory book on the great artist.
Frida Kahlo’s strong affection for and identification with animals form the lens through which readers view her life and work in this picture-book biography.
Each two-page spread introduces one or more of her pets, comparing her characteristics to theirs and adding biographical details. Confusingly for young readers, the beginning pages reference pets she owned as an adult, yet the illustrations and events referred to come from earlier in her life. Bonito the parrot perches in a tree overlooking young Frida and her family in her childhood home and pops up again later, just before the first mention of Diego Rivera. Granizo, the fawn, another pet from her adult years, is pictured beside a young Frida and her father along with a description of “her life as a little girl.” The author’s note adds important details about Kahlo’s life and her significance as an artist, as well as recommending specific paintings that feature her beloved animals. Expressive acrylic paintings expertly evoke Kahlo’s style and color palette. While young animal lovers will identify with her attachment to her pets and may enjoy learning about the Aztec origins of her Xolo dogs and the meaning of turkeys in ancient Mexico, the book may be of most interest to those who already have an interest in Kahlo’s life.
A supplemental rather than introductory book on the great artist. (Picture book/biography. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-7358-4269-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: NorthSouth
Review Posted Online: June 18, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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