An uplifting glimpse into the life of one of America’s most distinguished writers.
Childhood experiences and stories work together to influence one of America’s most important writers.
Born in 1931, Toni Morrison began life as Chloe Ardelia Wofford. Growing up in Lorain, Ohio, a poor, segregated town, she enjoyed listening to stories told by her parents and grandparents. She became an excellent reader who loved the music and rhythm of words and language. At 12, she converted to Catholicism, choosing Anthony as her baptismal name. A top student, she attended Howard University, where she asked her friends, who had trouble with her name, to call her Toni. When she married Harold Morrison, an architect, she became Toni Morrison. Work as an editor stirred her desire to tell stories, especially those centering the African American experience. Her first novel, The Bluest Eye, launched her writing career, and over the years, she was recognized with many awards, including the Nobel Prize in literature. Her work always reflected the stories and language of her first storytellers. This introduction to Morrison’s life and influences demonstrates how much she was shaped by the experiences of her childhood. As an author of both adult titles and books for younger readers, her path will be of interest to readers of picture-book biographies. Nolen uses evocative language, while Ransome’s watercolor-and-collage illustrations complement and enhance the text with fluidity and a warm palette. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
An uplifting glimpse into the life of one of America’s most distinguished writers. (author’s note, list of books by Morrison, important quotes, resources, list of achievements) (Picture-book biography. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 27, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5344-7852-7
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
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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