TERRY'S MANY HATS

Actor and former NFL player Crews’ debut picture book tells the story of “a boy with BIG dreams…and a whole lot of hats.”

Terry scores big on the football field, but he’s also a gifted painter, singer, and more—conveyed through a montage of images that see him donning different chapeaux, from an artist’s beret to a chef’s hat. The week before the big game, however, Coach asks everyone to focus their energies on the gridiron, so Terry skips out on a new art project and talent show rehearsals and instead grabs his helmet to go full Football Terry. Though he leads his team to victory, he feels pigeonholed by others’ expectations (“Everyone wants me to be Football Terry or Artist Terry or Performer Terry”). Happily, his mother’s words—“Some days or weeks you may wear one hat more often, but that doesn’t mean the others are gone”—encourage the young boy to make time for his many passions. A feather in the cap of the multitalented Crews, this sensitively written book delivers an empowering message about staying true to oneself, conveyed at a time when children are too often scheduled up to their eyeballs. His use of caps as a metaphor makes a somewhat sophisticated concept feel concrete to a young audience. Cherislin’s soft-focus illustrations, reminiscent of Vanessa Brantley-Newton’s artwork, depict a determined Black child whose zest for life is palpable.

Crews wore his bestselling author hat when he penned this charmer.