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SYDNEY'S BIG SPEECH

Name: SYDNEY'S BIG SPEECH
Author: Malcolm Newsome
ISBN: 9780063141414

by Malcolm Newsome ; illustrated by Jade Orlando ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 20, 2024

Wonderful inspiration for young introverts.

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A young girl finds her voice.

When Mr. Simmons asks the class to stand and introduce themselves on the first day of school, Sydney, a Black girl, decides to go last. As every worst-case scenario floods her mind, she opts out of introducing herself altogether. Later, Mr. Simmons asks the students to prepare speeches about what they want to be when they grow up. Sydney frets, but her father inspires his apprehensive scholar by sharing examples of outstanding Black women political leaders such as Kamala Harris, Condoleezza Rice, Carol Moseley Braun, and Shirley Chisholm. Sydney reveals that she would like to be a great leader someday and agrees that she’ll have to make speeches. Sydney’s father confides that he, too, is shy and has had to practice the art of public speaking. Sydney practices, but she still feels nervous the night before her big speech. With a little extra love from her dad—and a viewing of President Barack Obama’s “Yes We Can” speech—Sydney gets the extra push she needs to assert herself. Newsome tells a sweetly empowering story, while Orlando’s illustrations, a combination of watercolor and digital media, are whimsical, charming, and inviting; the crayon images of her heroes that Sydney tapes to her wall are an especially nice touch. Mr. Simmons is Black; the class is diverse.

Wonderful inspiration for young introverts. (biographies of the people mentioned, references) (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: Feb. 20, 2024

ISBN: 9780063141414

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2023

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
THE DADDY-DAUGHTER DANCE
by Malcolm Newsome ; illustrated by Jenin Mohammed

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.

The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: June 21, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
A PERFECT PLACE TO PLAY
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Jim Valeri

- BOOK REVIEW
ON THE FIRST DAY OF FIRST GRADE
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Sarah Jennings

- BOOK REVIEW
FIVE LITTLE BUNNIES
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

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IMANI'S MOON

by JaNay Brown-Wood ; illustrated by Hazel Mitchell ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 14, 2014

While the blend of folklore, fantasy and realism is certainly far-fetched, Imani, with her winning personality, is a child...

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Imani endures the insults heaped upon her by the other village children, but she never gives up her dreams.

The Masai girl is tiny compared to the other children, but she is full of imagination and perseverance. Luckily, she has a mother who believes in her and tells her stories that will fuel that imagination. Mama tells her about the moon goddess, Olapa, who wins over the sun god. She tells Imani about Anansi, the trickster spider who vanquishes a larger snake. (Troublingly, the fact that Anansi is a West African figure, not of the Masai, goes unaddressed in both text and author’s note.) Inspired, the tiny girl tries to find new ways to achieve her dream: to touch the moon. One day, after crashing to the ground yet again when her leafy wings fail, she is ready to forget her hopes. That night, she witnesses the adumu, the special warriors’ jumping dance. Imani wakes the next morning, determined to jump to the moon. After jumping all day, she reaches the moon, meets Olapa and receives a special present from the goddess, a small moon rock. Now she becomes the storyteller when she relates her adventure to Mama. The watercolor-and-graphite illustrations have been enhanced digitally, and the night scenes of storytelling and fantasy with their glowing stars and moons have a more powerful impact than the daytime scenes, with their blander colors.

While the blend of folklore, fantasy and realism is certainly far-fetched, Imani, with her winning personality, is a child to be admired. (Picture book. 5-8)