This sanitized treatment does a disservice to both subject and readers.
Artist Keith Haring draws and draws, from childhood to adulthood.
“There was a boy named Keith,” opens the text, showing him drawn with an orange outline, crawling, surrounded by the gleam lines that Haring later used around his famous Radiant Baby. As Haring grows to adulthood and renown, drawing constantly, Neubecker neatly incorporates Haring’s real pieces into these zesty, bustling, digital-and-pencil illustrations. From subway-station drawings chalked on black paper to acrylic paintings to murals, Haring’s work pops; Neubecker’s compositions and enthusiastic crowd scenes do it wonderful credit. The textual refrain (subtly offset in its own typeface) is that Haring never stops drawing—a passable theme, barely, but one that glaringly spotlights the themes that are missing. In a stunning erasure, author Haring (Keith’s sister) includes only non–AIDS-related art, activism, and philanthropy. Haring’s famous Silence=Death pieces (pink triangles crowded with bodies) and his absolutely iconic “Ignorance=Fear” poster—both of which complemented the work of pivotal AIDS activist group ACT UP—are nowhere to be found. The foundation he created to benefit underserved youth and AIDS organizations gets no mention until the second of two backmatter notes. Very young readers are better served by any of several available Keith Haring coloring books or board books; older readers deserve to know all his vital artistic, activist, and philanthropic achievements, including the ones related to AIDS.
This sanitized treatment does a disservice to both subject and readers. (author’s note, index of art works) (Picture book/biography. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 14, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-525-42819-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2016
While not destined to have wide appeal, the book tells the story of a saint deeply important in both the Roman Catholic and...
A brief introduction to the early Christian mystic and saint.
Anthony lived in the third and fourth centuries C.E., in Egypt. Both his extremely ascetic life and his role as the father of monasticism are described in ways that make them accessible to young children. When Anthony’s parents die, leaving him with the care of his younger sister, he sells everything he owns, provides for his sister’s care, and “sets out with nothing to find something.” He is assailed by “wrong thoughts” and temptations, described as coming from the devil. But he turns to God and continues to repel the devil. He settles in an old fort, alone, where his friends bring him food, and people move near the fort to hear Anthony speak. His message is that wrong thoughts come to everyone, but they can be overcome by “right thoughts” (“like being patient and caring for his friends”) that bring one nearer to God. Later, he moves even further into the desert, living to 105. Throughout, he lives consciously, rejecting wrong thoughts and cultivating right ones. The pictures use many Egyptian, Persian, and Middle Eastern patterns and motifs, and Anthony’s age is tracked by the length of his beard.
While not destined to have wide appeal, the book tells the story of a saint deeply important in both the Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox traditions, filling a critical niche. (appendix, timeline, further reading, map, glossary) (Picture book/biography. 5-8)Pub Date: Dec. 7, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-937786-46-5
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Wisdom Tales
Review Posted Online: Sept. 20, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2015
A splendidly inspiring introduction to an unjustly overlooked woman.
Two hundred years after her birth in 1815, the world is finally beginning to pay attention to Ada Byron Lovelace, considered by many to be the inventor of computer programming.
Computer scientist and debut author Wallmark introduces her subject as a child fascinated by numbers, lucky enough to be born to a geometry-loving mother with the means and inclination to nurture her daughter’s talents. She focuses on her subject’s adolescence, choosing details that highlight Lovelace’s development as a mathematical genius. The girl sketches models for flying machines, works endless calculations to compute the wings’ power—young readers will sympathize as they hear how “writing for so long made her fingers hurt”—and studies a toy boat to see how minute adjustments to its sails affect its speed. A bout of measles that leaves her temporarily blind and paralyzed serves to further hone her brilliance, as her mother drills her with math problems. She is perfectly positioned for her fateful meeting with Charles Babbage, whose proposed Analytical Engine prompts her to write the algorithm (described as “a set of mathematical instructions”) that becomes the world’s very first computer program. Chu’s illustrations, digitally colored in a deep, jewel-toned palette, accompany the lively prose. Lovelace is a Pre-Raphaelite beauty set against a backdrop of teeming Victorian interiors littered with diagrams and pages of figures; children will enjoy spotting the girl’s loyal cat.
A splendidly inspiring introduction to an unjustly overlooked woman. (author’s note, timeline, bibliography) (Picture book/biography. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 13, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-939547-20-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Creston
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2015
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
