Subpar poesy aside, this woke ABC’s epic feats of representation prove wrestling is for everybody.
An inclusive ABC imparting essential squared-circle lingo.
E is for everybody, for people like me (and maybe you), who cry out with glee as the ref counts to three in a book that is long overdue! Over the decades, professional wrestling has earned—and deserved—a bad rap due to racist, sexist, homophobic, and otherwise bigoted storylines and gimmicks. Countless competitors have worked to recuperate the business’s image, and this alphabet book casts a diverse coalition of stars to define 25 wrestling terms in verse. Despite some stultifying stanzas—“G is for Gimmick / Every grappler is unique: / special clothes, looks, attitude, / distinct moves, and ways they speak”—wrestlers of all races, gender identities, sexual orientations, body types, and backgrounds come to life in its vibrant digital illustrations. Featured performers include the likes of Nyla Rose, a First Nations wrestler who recently became the first trans woman to win a world championship in a major American promotion; Sonny Kiss, an African American gender-neutral standout; “Big Swole” Aerial Monroe, an African American contender living with Crohn’s disease; and talents hailing from Puerto Rico, India, South Africa, Mexico, Japan, and many other countries around the world. A glossary provides succinct definitions for each vocabulary word and enumerates the roster of over 90 real-life sports entertainers who have graciously lent their likenesses.
Subpar poesy aside, this woke ABC’s epic feats of representation prove wrestling is for everybody. (author’s note) (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: June 29, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-9993886-4-8
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Trism Books
Review Posted Online: March 24, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
Adults will do better skipping the book and talking with their children.
Social-equity themes are presented to children in ABC format.
Terms related to intersectional inequality, such as “class,” “gender,” “privilege,” “oppression,” “race,” and “sex,” as well as other topics important to social justice such as “feminism,” “human being,” “immigration,” “justice,” “kindness,” “multicultural,” “transgender,” “understanding,” and “value” are named and explained. There are 26 in all, one for each letter of the alphabet. Colorful two-page spreads with kid-friendly illustrations present each term. First the term is described: “Belief is when you are confident something exists even if you can’t see it. Lots of different beliefs fill the world, and no single belief is right for everyone.” On the facing page it concludes: “B is for BELIEF / Everyone has different beliefs.” It is hard to see who the intended audience for this little board book is. Babies and toddlers are busy learning the names for their body parts, familiar objects around them, and perhaps some basic feelings like happy, hungry, and sad; slightly older preschoolers will probably be bewildered by explanations such as: “A value is an expression of how to live a belief. A value can serve as a guide for how you behave around other human beings. / V is for VALUE / Live your beliefs out loud.”
Adults will do better skipping the book and talking with their children. (Board book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-78603-742-8
Page Count: 52
Publisher: Frances Lincoln
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2019
So rocket science can be fun.
What do you want to be when you grow up?
If they haven’t already thought about their futures (and they probably haven’t), toddlers and preschoolers might start planning after perusing this cheerful first guide to scientific careers. Plump-cheeked, wide-eyed tykes with various skin and hair colors introduce different professions, including zoologist, meteorologist, aerospace engineer, and environmental scientist, depicted with cues to tip readers off to what the jobs entail. The simple text presents the sometimes-long, tongue-twisting career names while helpfully defining them in comprehensible terms. For example, an environmental scientist “helps take care of our world,” and a zoologist is defined as someone who “studies how animals behave.” Scientists in general are identified as those who “study, learn, and solve problems.” Such basic language not only benefits youngsters, but also offers adults sharing the book easy vocabulary with which to expand on conversations with kids about the professions. The title’s ebullient appearance is helped along by the typography: The jobs’ names are set in all caps, printed in color and in a larger font than the surrounding text, and emphasized with exclamation points. Additionally, the buoyant watercolors feature clues to what scientists in these fields work with, such as celestial bodies for astronomers. The youngest listeners won’t necessarily get all of this, but the book works as a rudimentary introduction to STEM topics and a shoutout to scientific endeavors.
So rocket science can be fun. (Informational picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-62354-149-1
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2019
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