(Picture book/biography. 5-10)
This Indian import traces the life and work of the social reformer Bhimrao “Bhim” Ambedkar as he fought for the rights of lower-caste people in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Even as a child, Bhim is aware that the world he lives in is “like a ladder” and that he (like the other people in his caste) occupies the lowest rung. Bhim is considered an “Untouchable”; this means that they cannot eat with people from higher castes, drink from the same wells, swim in the same ponds, or even be touched. Despite the numerous obstacles placed in his path, Bhim studies hard and wins a scholarship to a school in the United States. He also studies law in London and, upon his return, fights for the basic human rights of his people. The picture book concludes with a timeline of Ambedkar’s life and a brief explanation of caste, which clarifies that “practicing untouchability is illegal” and that those formerly called Untouchables are today called Dalits. Gade’s brushy watercolors brim with energy and even humor. Rajendran’s text and Gade’s depiction of culturally familiar images, however, seem aimed primarily at an Indian audience living in India, and North American audiences unfamiliar with the context will need some help. They may also be struck at the strong implication that social inequalities exist only in India.
(Picture book/biography. 5-10)Pub Date: April 14, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-9995476-0-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Kitaabworld
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2018
A lovely encouragement to young writers to persist.
This follow-up to How To Read a Story (2005) shows a child going through the steps of creating a story, from choosing an idea through sharing with friends.
A young black child lies in a grassy field writing in a journal, working on “Step 1 / Search for an Idea— / a shiny one.” During a walk to the library, various ideas float in colorful thought bubbles, with exclamation points: “playing soccer! / dogs!” Inside the library, less-distinct ideas, expressed as shapes and pictures, with question marks, float about as the writer collects ideas to choose from. The young writer must then choose a setting, a main character, and a problem for that protagonist. Plotting, writing with detail, and revising are described in child-friendly terms and shown visually, in the form of lists and notes on faux pieces of paper. Finally, the writer sits in the same field, in a new season, sharing the story with friends. The illustrations feature the child’s writing and drawing as well as images of imagined events from the book in progress bursting off the page. The child’s main character is an adventurous mermaid who looks just like the child, complete with afro-puff pigtails, representing an affirming message about writing oneself into the world. The child’s family, depicted as black, moves in the background of the setting, which is also populated by a multiracial cast.
A lovely encouragement to young writers to persist. (Informational picture book. 6-10)Pub Date: July 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4521-5666-8
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
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BOOK REVIEW
Energetic enough to carry younger rocketeers off the launch pad if not into a very high orbit.
The bubble-helmeted feline explains what rockets do and the role they have played in sending people (and animals) into space.
Addressing a somewhat younger audience than in previous outings (Professor Astro Cat’s Frontiers of Space, 2013, etc.), Astro Cat dispenses with all but a light shower of “factoroids” to describe how rockets work. A highly selective “History of Space Travel” follows—beginning with a crew of fruit flies sent aloft in 1947, later the dog Laika (her dismal fate left unmentioned), and the human Yuri Gagarin. Then it’s on to Apollo 11 in 1969; the space shuttles Discovery, Columbia, and Challenger (the fates of the latter two likewise elided); the promise of NASA’s next-gen Orion and the Space Launch System; and finally vague closing references to other rockets in the works for local tourism and, eventually, interstellar travel. In the illustrations the spacesuited professor, joined by a mouse and cat in similar dress, do little except float in space and point at things. Still, the art has a stylish retro look, and portraits of Sally Ride and Guion Bluford diversify an otherwise all-white, all-male astronaut corps posing heroically or riding blocky, geometric spacecraft across starry reaches.
Energetic enough to carry younger rocketeers off the launch pad if not into a very high orbit. (glossary) (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-911171-55-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Flying Eye Books
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
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