Less rhapsody than lost opportunity. Let this one bite the dust or risk going stone-cold crazy.
An illustrated exploration of the iconic British rockers.
In a tongue-in-cheek “Recipe for Queen,” this picture book describes its subject as “an intense, sophisticated dish with surprising ingredients.” Despite an equally startling formula, Romero Mariño’s account will leave readers who want it all from their band biographies yearning to break free. Though the narrative follows a roughly chronological sequence, it can’t seem to decide whether it’s focused on Freddie Mercury, who dominates its pages, or the entire band. An opening spread sharing key dates from Mercury’s life gives way to a timeline of the band’s career, then careens into a full 10 pages solely devoted to the legendary frontman. (Excepting the ethnically Parsi Mercury, all band members are white.) Brief profiles of each band member separate a section conveying their origin story from a capsule history of their early years. The text—an uncredited Google Translate–esque interpretation of a Spanish-language original—stumbles along, rife with passive voice, strange syntax, and awkward phrasing. Imagined scenes depicting key moments in Queen’s history suffer from stilted dialogue while pull quotes seem more filler than enticing highlight. The book concludes with the radio debut of “Bohemian Rhapsody,” but images ostensibly intended as appendices drag this chronicle beyond its obvious terminus. Despite it all, Castelló’s whimsical illustrations shine, offering die-hard fans a reason to keep themselves alive.
Less rhapsody than lost opportunity. Let this one bite the dust or risk going stone-cold crazy. (Informational picture book. 6-10)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-7282-1091-9
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Sourcebooks eXplore
Review Posted Online: May 2, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A reasonably solid grounding in constitutional rights, their flexibility, lacunae, and hard-won corrections, despite a few...
Shamir offers an investigation of the foundations of freedoms in the United States via its founding documents, as well as movements and individuals who had great impacts on shaping and reshaping those institutions.
The opening pages of this picture book get off to a wobbly start with comments such as “You know that feeling you get…when you see a wide open field that you can run through without worrying about traffic or cars? That’s freedom.” But as the book progresses, Shamir slowly steadies the craft toward that wide-open field of freedom. She notes the many obvious-to-us-now exclusivities that the founding political documents embodied—that the entitled, white, male authors did not extend freedom to enslaved African-Americans, Native Americans, and women—and encourages readers to learn to exercise vigilance and foresight. The gradual inclusion of these left-behind people paints a modestly rosy picture of their circumstances today, and the text seems to give up on explaining how Native Americans continue to be left behind. Still, a vital part of what makes freedom daunting is its constant motion, and that is ably expressed. Numerous boxed tidbits give substance to the bigger political picture. Who were the abolitionists and the suffragists, what were the Montgomery bus boycott and the “Uprising of 20,000”? Faulkner’s artwork conveys settings and emotions quite well, and his drawing of Ruby Bridges is about as darling as it gets. A helpful timeline and bibliography appear as endnotes.
A reasonably solid grounding in constitutional rights, their flexibility, lacunae, and hard-won corrections, despite a few misfires. (Informational picture book. 6-10)Pub Date: May 2, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-399-54728-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
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