A beautiful vision of a global community.
A classic spiritual gets a brand-new twist in this oversized picture book by López in which diverse children share a glorious, colorful world of nature.
From windows in a patchwork globe on the cover, children reach out, smiling. A multicolored yarn loops and stretches, leading off the cover page and into the book. The yarn lands in a ball at the feet of a girl against a white background. She fills her arms with it as the words begin: “We’ve got the whole world in our hands.” She then lets the yarn fly upward, and the loops continue across the spread, where other children smile and reach up toward it. As the pages progress, more and more children reach out their hands to “hold” the ever deepening landscape around them (“We’ve got the sun and the rain in our hands. / We’ve got the moon and the stars in our hands”). Deserts, forests, mountains, oceans, and all sorts of wildlife appear as children of various skin tones, hair textures, and attire follow the colored yarn; one child who uses a wheelchair appears in the first few pages but then disappears. The children begin to play with the yarn and with one another, until the children and animals, backgrounded by landmarks from different parts of the world, share one page, then fly off together in a hot air balloon. This unconventional interpretation of the classic song finds a modern application with joyful illustrations that send a message of hope and power to today’s children. A bilingual English/Spanish edition publishes simultaneously.
A beautiful vision of a global community. (Picture book. 2-8)Pub Date: Oct. 9, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-338-17736-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Orchard/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 31, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Though told by two outsiders to the culture, this timely and well-crafted story will educate readers on the preciousness of...
An international story tackles a serious global issue with Reynolds’ characteristic visual whimsy.
Gie Gie—aka Princess Gie Gie—lives with her parents in Burkina Faso. In her kingdom under “the African sky, so wild and so close,” she can tame wild dogs with her song and make grass sway, but despite grand attempts, she can neither bring the water closer to home nor make it clean. French words such as “maintenant!” (now!) and “maman” (mother) and local color like the karite tree and shea nuts place the story in a French-speaking African country. Every morning, Gie Gie and her mother perch rings of cloth and large clay pots on their heads and walk miles to the nearest well to fetch murky, brown water. The story is inspired by model Georgie Badiel, who founded the Georgie Badiel Foundation to make clean water accessible to West Africans. The details in Reynolds’ expressive illustrations highlight the beauty of the West African landscape and of Princess Gie Gie, with her cornrowed and beaded hair, but will also help readers understand that everyone needs clean water—from the children of Burkina Faso to the children of Flint, Michigan.
Though told by two outsiders to the culture, this timely and well-crafted story will educate readers on the preciousness of potable water. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-399-17258-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
A disappointing follow-up.
Inventor Izzy Gizmo is back in this sequel to her eponymous debut (2017).
While busily inventing one day, Izzy receives an invitation from the Genius Guild to their annual convention. Though Izzy’s “inventions…don’t always work,” Grandpa (apparently her sole caregiver) encourages her to go. The next day they undertake a long journey “over fields, hills, and waves” and “mile after mile” to isolated Technoff Isle. There, Izzy finds she must compete against four other kids to create the most impressive machine. The colorful, detail-rich illustrations chronicle how poor Izzy is thwarted at every turn by Abi von Lavish, a Veruca Salt–esque character who takes all the supplies for herself. But when Abi abandons her project, Izzy salvages the pieces and decides to take Grandpa’s advice to create a machine that “can really be put to good use.” A frustrated Izzy’s impatience with a friend almost foils her chance at the prize, but all’s well that ends well. There’s much to like: Brown-skinned inventor girl Izzy is an appealing character, it’s great to see a nurturing brown-skinned male caregiver, the idea of an “Invention Convention” is fun, and a sustainable-energy invention is laudable. However, these elements don’t make up for rhymes that often feel forced and a lackluster story.
A disappointing follow-up. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: March 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-68263-164-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Peachtree
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2020
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