An influential figure receives the admiring treatment he’s earned.
A Yiddish-speaking visionary improved Jewish immigrants’ lives in early-20th-century New York.
Born in 1860 Lithuania (then part of the Russian Empire), Abe Cahan was a gifted linguist who learned Russian in addition to his native Yiddish. Abe taught school and ardently supported political and labor causes—dangerous in czarist Russia. Fearing for his life, Abe fled his country and, on the long journey to America, taught himself English. Upon arriving in New York, Abe labored in factories by day and improved his English by night, eventually teaching English to other Jewish newcomers. Soon, he became so proficient that he reported on Jewish immigrants’ lives for English-language newspapers and wrote stories and novels in English. In 1897, Abe helped found and then became editor of the Jewish Daily Forward, a seminal Yiddish-language newspaper that acclimated generations of Jewish immigrants to American life, teaching them, among many things, about the rules of baseball; American history, government, and the importance of voting; and health and hygiene. Abe also added an enormously popular personal-advice column called the “Bintel Brief” (“Bundle of Letters”). This well-written, stimulating picture-book biography brings much-deserved attention to an important person who highlighted and respected the lives not only of Jewish immigrants but of all immigrants, as well as workers and the poor. The colorful, attractive gouache illustrations capture period settings very capably.
An influential figure receives the admiring treatment he’s earned. (more about Abe Cahan, author’s note, more about Yiddish, timeline, bibliography) (Picture-book biography. 7-11)Pub Date: Feb. 20, 2024
ISBN: 9780823451647
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
A pivotal moment in a child’s life, at once stirring and authentically personal.
Before growing up to become a major figure in the civil rights movement, a boy finds a role model.
Buffing up a childhood tale told by her renowned father, Young Shelton describes how young Andrew saw scary men marching in his New Orleans neighborhood (“It sounded like they were yelling ‘Hi, Hitler!’ ”). In response to his questions, his father took him to see a newsreel of Jesse Owens (“a runner who looked like me”) triumphing in the 1936 Olympics. “Racism is a sickness,” his father tells him. “We’ve got to help folks like that.” How? “Well, you can start by just being the best person you can be,” his father replies. “It’s what you do that counts.” In James’ hazy chalk pastels, Andrew joins racially diverse playmates (including a White child with an Irish accent proudly displaying the nickel he got from his aunt as a bribe to stop playing with “those Colored boys”) in tag and other games, playing catch with his dad, sitting in the midst of a cheering crowd in the local theater’s segregated balcony, and finally visualizing himself pelting down a track alongside his new hero—“head up, back straight, eyes focused,” as a thematically repeated line has it, on the finish line. An afterword by Young Shelton explains that she retold this story, told to her many times growing up, drawing from conversations with Young and from her own research; family photos are also included. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A pivotal moment in a child’s life, at once stirring and authentically personal. (illustrator’s note) (Autobiographical picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-545-55465-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
Playful, provocative, and packed with perspective.
Did Christopher Columbus really “discover” a new world? Did the Pilgrims invite the Wampanoag to a friendly First Thanksgiving? Is July 4 truly the nation’s birthday?
Readers familiar with traditional narratives of America’s founding are invited to interrogate those myths in this interactive exploration of early U.S. history. A strong introductory framework asks whose stories endure and whose have been erased from the history books, emphasizing that Indigenous peoples remain part of the present, not just the past. Each spread presents a common misconception, then asks readers to flip assumptions aside by lifting a partial gatefold that reveals the true story beneath. Well-sourced explanations elevate figures and communities often excluded from history books, including women, Black Americans, and Indigenous peoples. Bold colors, graphic-heavy layouts, and energetic illustrations that make creative use of historical photos and images break complex ideas into bite-size pieces that encourage browsing over linear reading. A timeline, speech bubbles, and lift-the-flap “True or False” quizzes reinforce the book’s core message: History is layered, debatable, and dynamic. Though the book’s busy, nonlinear design may prove challenging for some, on the whole it works very well as an engaging historical overview. The content assumes a foundational knowledge of early U.S. history, making it most suitable for older elementary readers, though some visual choices skew younger. Backmatter includes more historical information and background on the book’s creation.
Playful, provocative, and packed with perspective. (glossary, resources, photo credits) (Nonfiction. 9-11)Pub Date: May 26, 2026
ISBN: 9798888599082
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Barefoot Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2026
PERSPECTIVES
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