A lively exploration of recent women’s history as well as the creation of an iconic female superhero.
“As lovely as Aphrodite—as wise as Athena—with the speed of Mercury and the strength of Hercules….”
Wonder Woman was born when her creator, Bill Marston, decided that children needed a female superhero. But the male publishing world laughed at the idea, so Marston needed to find a way to be incredibly convincing—and he did, eventually bringing Wonder Woman into the mainstream and hiring women writers and artists to help him do so. Told entirely as a comic, complete with panels, speech bubbles, biographical text boxes, captions, and sound effects, the thought-provoking and accessible story accompanied by engaging illustrations describes how the lives of women in the U.S. changed during and after World War II and how Wonder Woman’s character embodied many of these changes. It chronicles the dilution of her personality in the 1950s, the integration of the comic into Ms. magazine in the ’60s, the ’70s television show that showed execs people would tune in for a female lead, and the woman-directed 2017 movie. While the retro illustrations focus on the all-White primary cast (helpfully labeling all the White men at work making comics in an early scene), people of color are included throughout. Whether or not they already know the character, children will be drawn into this informative tale, which is inspiring and entertaining, much like Wonder Woman herself. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A lively exploration of recent women’s history as well as the creation of an iconic female superhero. (author’s notes, source notes, selected reading) (Informational picture book. 5-10)Pub Date: Sept. 28, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-358-23842-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
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
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
© Copyright 2024 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.
bookshelf
