photographed by Pete Souza ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 21, 2017
Souza has given a hopeful gift for the generations: a keeper.
Former official White House photographer Souza (Obama: An Intimate Portrait, 2017) pares his extensive collection documenting former President Barack Obama’s two terms in office.
However, instead of offering a coffee-table book for kids, Souza organizes the pictures under life-lesson–themed chapters, such as “Be Kind and Respectful,” “Work Hard,” and “Show Compassion.” And the pictures visually capture Obama living by these words, from intimate moments with his wife, Michelle, and daughters, Malia and Sasha, to the tapestry of humanity he encountered in his travels in the U.S. and around the globe, such as meeting a girl in Malaysia, sitting in the bus seat from which Rosa Parks kickstarted the civil rights movement, and shaking Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s hand before her swearing-in ceremony. Souza states, “Along the way, I became his friend. And he became my friend.” Readers see the lensed empathy borne of that friendship, even as Souza captures the deeply historic moment his friend embodies. The book reminds readers of the deeper import of Obama’s presidency, as evidenced by the now-famous photo of the young black boy touching Obama’s hair to discover it is “just like his.”
Souza has given a hopeful gift for the generations: a keeper. (Nonfiction. 5-12)Pub Date: Nov. 21, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-316-51439-2
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2017
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by Chris Paul ; illustrated by Courtney Lovett ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 10, 2023
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
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by Chris Paul & illustrated by Frank Morrison
by Lesa Cline-Ransome ; illustrated by James E. Ransome ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 7, 2017
A picture book more than worthy of sharing the shelf with Alan Schroeder and Jerry Pinkney’s Minty (1996) and Carole Boston...
A memorable, lyrical reverse-chronological walk through the life of an American icon.
In free verse, Cline-Ransome narrates the life of Harriet Tubman, starting and ending with a train ride Tubman takes as an old woman. “But before wrinkles formed / and her eyes failed,” Tubman could walk tirelessly under a starlit sky. Cline-Ransome then describes the array of roles Tubman played throughout her life, including suffragist, abolitionist, Union spy, and conductor on the Underground Railroad. By framing the story around a literal train ride, the Ransomes juxtapose the privilege of traveling by rail against Harriet’s earlier modes of travel, when she repeatedly ran for her life. Racism still abounds, however, for she rides in a segregated train. While the text introduces readers to the details of Tubman’s life, Ransome’s use of watercolor—such a striking departure from his oil illustrations in many of his other picture books—reveals Tubman’s humanity, determination, drive, and hope. Ransome’s lavishly detailed and expansive double-page spreads situate young readers in each time and place as the text takes them further into the past.
A picture book more than worthy of sharing the shelf with Alan Schroeder and Jerry Pinkney’s Minty (1996) and Carole Boston Weatherford and Kadir Nelson’s Moses (2006). (Picture book/biography. 5-8)Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-8234-2047-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Aug. 6, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2017
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by Lesa Cline-Ransome ; illustrated by Kaylani Juanita
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