A poignant tribute to the power of story.
The story of a boy, initially uninterested in reading, who went on to write a classic work of children’s fiction.
Born in Oklahoma in 1913, Woodrow Wilson Rawls (called Woody) was a country boy with a penchant for telling stories. Yet it wasn’t until his mother read him Jack London’s The Call of the Wild that he became a reader—and became inspired to write his own books. In and out of jail for theft during his young adulthood (food was often hard to come by during the Depression), Woody married, settled down, and, dismissing his writerly aspirations as impractical, burned his manuscripts. But when he shared his dreams with his wife, Sophie, he began to believe in himself, the result being his 1961 novel Where the Red Fern Grows. The overall theme of this biography isn’t the power of persistence, as one might think, but rather finding someone to believe in you and returning to your dreams. Reagan’s watercolors render both the gentle ripples of a slow creek and the violent conflagration that destroys Woody’s books with equal aplomb. Direct quotes from Rawls about his life, interspersed throughout, are all properly sourced. Rogers’ appended note acknowledges that Rawls would fictionalize parts of his own autobiography, a fact that places both author and illustrator in a position of telling the story of an unreliable narrator. What is reliable is the book’s dedication to the idea of writing from the heart.
A poignant tribute to the power of story. (bibliography, photos, picture credits) (Picture-book biography. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2025
ISBN: 9781662680298
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Calkins Creek/Astra Books for Young Readers
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2025
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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