A loving tribute to perseverance and inner strength.
The scraps of Appalachian lives, forgotten by many, persist in the memories marked by thread and bits of cloth.
Green pines, blue mountains, and star-frosted skies peek out of squares stitched together by weathered hands that cooked, cleaned, canned, and gardened all day long. Quilts that would one day hang in museums lovingly sheltered families on cold Blue Ridge nights. Girls would watch their mamas until one day their young hands learned to gather squares and form quilts of their own. Hitchcock’s quiet homage is humbling. The author’s note details the resourcefulness of these women who endured poverty and often lacked formal schooling yet could turn feed sacks into songs of love. Page’s earth-toned art, made out of clay, paper, wire, and fabric, fills the pages with mountain life. Hands guiding needles pop out of scenes. Cut-out flowers, appliqued dogs and fish, intricate stars, and textured images animate the narrative. Hitchcock makes clear that hardship couldn’t silence these women’s stories, told in the language of embellished pieces of worn fabric. Illustrations depict light-skinned characters, though one child appears to be darker-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A loving tribute to perseverance and inner strength. (Picture book. 6-10)Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-4788-7537-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Reycraft Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
“Booyakasha!” Readers can be ninjas just like the heroes on the half shell.
“It’s Turtle Time!”
Master Splinter, the mutant, adult-human–sized rat sensei of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, invites readers to study the way of the ninja. He first presents a series of lessons with the help of the Turtles and their friends. Splinter narrates the lesson on tradition. Leonardo, the Turtle leader, takes up discipline. Raphael handles strength, Donatello, technology, and Michelangelo, creativity. Stealth, friendship, and teamwork follow. Each lesson is composed of two to four pages of admonitions, platitudes, and pictures. Then ensues a catalog of TMNT enemies. Each is described in a paragraph or two with several pictures and tips on defeating them; these tips reference the previous lessons. Finally, there are a couple “missions” that focus on stealth. Many chapters feature a cheeky comment scrawled in orange ink by Michelangelo in the margins (“I can do science stuff, too. I’m great at dancing the robot”). Conti does a good job channeling the characters’ voices in few words. The bright, abundant artwork is right out of the Nickelodeon television show now in its fifth season. It’s a slim book, but the elevated vocabulary makes this best suited to middle graders. Reluctant readers who love the Turtles will likely read and reread and use the ninja tips to sneak up on family members.
“Booyakasha!” Readers can be ninjas just like the heroes on the half shell. (Fantasy. 7-10)Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4926-4764-5
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2017
Powerfully illustrates that this groundbreaking American icon’s commitment to equality did not begin or end with...
A pre–MLB biography of Jackie Robinson that focuses on his passion for justice and early encounters with injustice.
Beginning with Jack (not yet called Jackie) Robinson’s childhood, Bardhan-Quallen outlines some of the discrimination Jack faced: once-a-week segregated swimming times, being the only—and unwanted—black family on their street, and being denied sports opportunities despite excelling, all due to racism. These early life experiences, along with Jack’s mother’s lessons “to stand up for what was right, even when that was difficult to do,” are presented as the foundation that helped Jack cultivate the courage and bravery needed to endure the trials to come. When Jack enrolled in the Army, he chafed against the prevalent racism. After segregation was outlawed in the military, not everyone listened, and when Jack refused to move to the back of a post bus, he was verbally abused and arrested. Though innocent, Jack was court-martialed. He won but decided to leave the Army and “took a job in Kansas City, and then another in Montreal. And in 1947, Jack went to work in Brooklyn, New York.” Christie’s naïve paintings give Robinson’s story emotive heft while painting him as an Everyman, working with the text to immerse readers in Robinson’s life before baseball.
Powerfully illustrates that this groundbreaking American icon’s commitment to equality did not begin or end with baseball—his courage was a lifelong trait. (timeline, author’s note, bibliography) (Picture book/biography. 6-10)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-228784-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 15, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2017
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