A rather lackluster tale about the joy of reading and libraries.
Taking solace in books, a bullied child finds her confidence (and future career) at the public library.
Before rising to fame as a librarian, literary critic, and author, Nancy Pearl was a lonely kid who “loved reading more than recess.” While the school library offers a safe haven from teasing classmates, it isn’t open on the weekends; this prompts Nancy to make her first trip to the Detroit Public Library. Two friendly librarians welcome the shy, light-skinned girl and help her find the items she’s most interested in: books about horses. Nancy then visits the branch every weekend, reading through the librarians’ recommendations and building confidence. Eventually, the librarians convince Nancy to “give a talk about horse books” to her fellow students. Spurred on by their encouragement, the equine-loving reader leans on her imagination to calm her nerves and get through her presentation. The talk magically transforms her relationships with her peers, who go from belittling her love of reading to “[circling] around her with questions about books.” Nancy grows up to be a librarian, “because reading, Nancy knew, helped people find dreams of their own…with the turn of every page.” Gentle, slightly fuzzy illustrations depict Nancy’s journey. Hampered by a clunky narrative and unfortunate pacing, however, this title doesn’t stand out in the growing field of engaging biographies for children. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A rather lackluster tale about the joy of reading and libraries. (author’s note, photographs) (Picture-book biography. 6-10)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-63217-318-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Little Bigfoot/Sasquatch
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2022
A sweeping and inspiring young readers’ introduction to Ida B. Wells.
Readers meet the brave journalist and activist who wasn’t afraid to use her voice to fight for herself or others.
In this fictional graphic memoir, Williams chronicles Wells’ birth, childhood experiences, early adulthood in Memphis, and subsequent life in Chicago, allowing her subject to speak in the first person. In Memphis, Wells is forced from a train after refusing to leave the first-class seat that she paid for, three of her friends are lynched for owning a successful grocery store, and the office of her newspaper is bombed. After her departure from Memphis, Wells’ story focuses on her activism for both civil rights and women’s rights, forthrightly (if briefly) addressing resistance she met from White suffragists and Black leaders. Wells’ narration carries readers to her death in 1931. From there, her great-granddaughter (and author) Michelle Duster takes over the narrative. The switch in perspective is odd but not wholly confusing due to Harris’ clear stylings in the comics panels. The book lacks historical notes or bibliography, so engaged readers will need to seek more information about the subject on their own. The illustrations, while not particularly dynamic, use mostly warm, muted shades as they depict their subject against varying backdrops; they add much to the reading without detracting from the text. Series companion Dolly Parton, by Emily Skwish and illustrated by Lydia Fernández Abril, publishes simultaneously.
A sweeping and inspiring young readers’ introduction to Ida B. Wells. (Graphic biography. 6-9)Pub Date: Nov. 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5037-6008-0
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Sunbird Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2021
Further brightens a light who was already shining.
A lyrical salute to the long-lived performer, fashion plate, and human rights activist.
“Nine decades she lived: / 96 years. 35,105 days,” Watson writes of Cicely Tyson (1924-2021). She goes on in flights of free verse to lay out a life lived “to do good in the world,” from early days growing up in the South Bronx as a “brown-skinned girl with twig legs” through early devotion to music and modeling, successes on stage and screen, and later years as a U.N. goodwill ambassador. “We cannot do enough, we cannot give enough, Cicely said. / We have to give back.” The author tucks in lines from spirituals to give her tribute further feeling and sonority and, to add broader context, intersperses biographical poems with general evocations of Black experiences in different historical eras: “Black is Emmett Till / and Medgar Evers / and Rosa Parks / and that preacher man King.” Shine, best known as a quilter, incorporates brightly hued and patterned fabric piecework into elegant, fashion-forward portraits of Tyson posing with dignity at various ages and in group scenes with other stylized, brown-skinned figures.
Further brightens a light who was already shining. (timeline) (Picture-book biography. 6-9)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2024
ISBN: 9780063219991
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Amistad/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2024
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