A compelling chapter of history—but not the full declaration.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Gorsuch and his former clerk Nitze look at the primary signers of the Declaration of Independence and what happened after their famous act of defiance.
Rather than stopping at the signature page, the co-authors follow the tense build-up and the dramatic fallout. Descriptions of imprisonment, financial ruin, and other consequences bring a sobering depth to what can often feel like a distant historical milestone. The book’s strength lies in this focused deep dive, illuminating what happened after the ink dried. But that narrow lens also limits it. While the text celebrates the notion that “all men are created equal,” it only briefly (and insufficiently) acknowledges those who were excluded, relegating this critical context to a small aside. Women, children, and people of color are mentioned as revolutionary participants but largely glossed over, their stories sidelined rather than deeply explored. Ellison’s illustrations have a softly polished, painterly realism that gives the book a stately feel, matching the idealistic tone. And while the artwork depicts one notably Black figure, the book offers little context for who she is or what her presence represents. With advanced vocabulary, dense text, and historical assumptions that may go over younger readers’ heads, this work is best suited for those already equipped to question the story it tells—as well as what’s left out.
A compelling chapter of history—but not the full declaration. (Informational picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: today
ISBN: 9780063473973
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2026
An engaging and informative true story of perseverance and discovery.
Fern and Kulikov, collaborators on the picture-book biographies Barnum’s Bones (2012) and W is for Webster (2015), bring the self-taught archaeologist who discovered King Tut’s tomb to life.
Howard Carter’s obsession with mummies began when he was a boy in England and visited a nearby mansion filled with ancient Egyptian artifacts. Carter dreamed of discovering a mummy himself. At 17, he took a job copying ancient art for the Egypt Exploration Fund. Awed by the art and architecture he sketched and copied, Carter was eager to make discoveries of his own. He taught himself the methodologies of archaeology, Arabic, geology, Egyptian history, and how to read hieroglyphics. As an antiquities inspector for the Egyptian government, Carter excavated several tombs only to find they had been looted. Undaunted, Carter devised a plan to excavate every unsearched inch in the Valley of the Kings. His dogged persistence paid off in 1922 when he discovered the treasure-filled tomb of Tutankhamun. Quoting from Carter’s own account, Fern infuses her story with excitement. She describes Carter as having a “funky personality” with a “stubborn attitude and worse table manners”; Kulikov’s exaggerated illustrations energetically capture Carter’s ambition and fascination with his subject.
An engaging and informative true story of perseverance and discovery. (author’s note, bibliography) (Picture book/biography. 7-9)Pub Date: Aug. 7, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-374-30305-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2018
A tad rough around the edges but, visually, at least, a keeper.
A planet's-eye view of some recent visitors from Earth—one in particular.
In measured, deceptively solemn prose, the narrator (Mars itself, as eventually revealed) gets off to a shaky start, observing that the rover rolls on and on, making straight tracks that confusingly become a tangle on the next page. Things settle down thereafter: “It observes. Measures. Collects. It is always looking for water. Maybe it is thirsty.” Roy matches the tone with a set of broad, rugged, achingly remote-looking Mars-scapes that culminate in a wildly swirling dust storm followed by a huge double gatefold: “Everything is… / RED as far as the eye can see. But it is beautiful.” Curiosity itself she depicts with almost clinical precision (though its wheels look different from different angles), adding a schematic view at the end with select parts and instruments labeled. Following playful nods to other rovers along the way (Spirit and Opportunity “had a spirit of adventure and seized every opportunity to explore”), a substantial quantity of backmatter includes more information about each one—including the next one up, Mars 2020—as well as about the fourth planet itself. For audience appeal it’s hard to beat Markus Motum’s cheerfully anthropomorphic Curiosity: The Story of a Mars Rover (2018), but the art here, in adding a certain grandeur and mystery to the red planet, has an appeal of its own.
A tad rough around the edges but, visually, at least, a keeper. (bibliography) (Informational picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: Oct. 29, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-19833-4
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2019
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