A poignant and important history told with dignity and fortitude.
A Cree child struggles with complex emotions stemming from her adoption in this debut picture book about co-author Na’kuset’s life.
Na’kuset recounts her forcible removal from her community during a period known as the Sixties Scoop, when the Canadian government enacted policies taking Indigenous children from their families and placing them in non-Native households. The authors rely on elegant figurative language that may require clarification from adults; for instance, when Na’kuset is kidnapped at age 3, “Flashlight people… / “[lift] us. Like feathers.” “Plucked like tiny trees / from our roots,” she and her sister are separated, and Na’kuset is sent to live with a white Jewish family. Though she grows to love her parents, they shut her down when she asserts her Cree identity. But Bubbie, her loving adoptive grandmother, gives her the strength to survive childhood and eventually reunite with her older sister. Her adoptive parents’ erasure of her true name is a source of pain; an Elder later gives her the Spirit name Na’kuset, which means sun in Mi’kmaq. Realistic artwork by Cree and Métis illustrator Onedove deftly conveys mood—Na’kuset’s tranquil suburban home has an unnerving feeling, while natural settings have a healing quality. Though the pacing is choppy, the conclusion is uplifting; this is a gentle introduction to a historical injustice that still reverberates.
A poignant and important history told with dignity and fortitude. (creators’ notes) (Picture-book biography. 5-9)Pub Date: Oct. 14, 2025
ISBN: 9780593648766
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Nov. 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A delightful story of love and hope.
Families are formed everywhere—including large metropolitan mass-transit systems!
Baby Kevin, initially known as “Danny ACE Doe,” was found in the New York City’s 14th Street subway station, which serves the A-C-E lines, by one of his future fathers, Danny. Kevin’s other father, Pete (author Mercurio), serves as the narrator, explaining how the two men came to add the newborn to their family. Readers are given an abridged version of the story from Danny and Pete’s point of view as they work to formally adopt Kevin and bring him home in time for Christmas. The story excels at highlighting the determination of loving fathers while still including realistic moments of hesitation, doubt, and fear that occur for new and soon-to-be parents. The language is mindful of its audience (for example using “piggy banks” instead of “bank accounts” to discuss finances) while never patronizing young readers. Espinosa’s posterlike artwork—which presents the cleanest New York readers are ever likely to see—extends the text and makes use of unexpected angles to heighten emotional scenes and moments of urgency. The diversity of skin tones, ages, and faces (Danny and Pete both present white, and Kevin has light brown skin) befits the Big Apple. Family snapshots and a closing author’s note emphasize that the most important thing in any family is love. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11.3-by-18-inch double-page spreads viewed at 43% of actual size.)
A delightful story of love and hope. (Informational picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-525-42754-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2020
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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