She is a powerful force in current American politics and immediately identifiable by her first name.
Veteran picture-book biographer Winter pulls out all the stops in his very laudatory overview of the life of a fighter for women’s rights and health care. Placing her directly in line with Elizabeth I, Joan of Arc, and Rosie the Riveter, he flies through her childhood, college years, and marriage, followed by her time as first lady, New York senator, secretary of state, and presidential hopeful. Colón’s signature, textured artwork—made with watercolor, colored pencils, and lithograph crayons—features Clinton in action on the podium, writing, and speaking. A final double-page spread borders on the hagiographic, with a silhouetted face in the foreground and golden rays of sun radiating across the pages. All in all, this is presented as an inspirational title about a woman who “may soon change the world—into a place where a girl can dream of growing up to be president, a place where men and women are equal.” Hillary Rodham Clinton’s serious and stylish face fills the jacket cover, the Capitol Dome in the background, inevitably prompting readers to imagine the White House in the forefront.
This book’s audience will select itself; red staters will avoid it, but Clinton’s fans will love it. (author’s note) (Picture book/biography. 7-10)Pub Date: Jan. 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-553-53388-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Nov. 3, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2015
Categories: CHILDREN'S BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR
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An honestly told biography of an important politician whose name every American should know.
Published while the United States has its first African-American president, this story of John Roy Lynch, the first African-American speaker of the Mississippi House of Representatives, lays bare the long and arduous path black Americans have walked to obtain equality. The title’s first three words—“The Amazing Age”—emphasize how many more freedoms African-Americans had during Reconstruction than for decades afterward. Barton and Tate do not shy away from honest depictions of slavery, floggings, the Ku Klux Klan, Jim Crow laws, or the various means of intimidation that whites employed to prevent blacks from voting and living lives equal to those of whites. Like President Barack Obama, Lynch was of biracial descent; born to an enslaved mother and an Irish father, he did not know hard labor until his slave mistress asked him a question that he answered honestly. Freed by the Emancipation Proclamation, Lynch had a long and varied career that points to his resilience and perseverance. Tate’s bright watercolor illustrations often belie the harshness of what takes place within them; though this sometimes creates a visual conflict, it may also make the book more palatable for young readers unaware of the violence African-Americans have suffered than fully graphic images would. A historical note, timeline, author’s and illustrator’s notes, bibliography and map are appended.
A picture book worth reading about a historical figure worth remembering. (Picture book biography. 7-10)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-8028-5379-0
Page Count: 50
Publisher: Eerdmans
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2015
Categories: CHILDREN'S BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The legions of fans who over the years have enjoyed dePaola’s autobiographical picture books will welcome this longer gathering of reminiscences. Writing in an authentically childlike voice, he describes watching the new house his father was building go up despite a succession of disasters, from a brush fire to the hurricane of 1938. Meanwhile, he also introduces family, friends, and neighbors, adds Nana Fall River to his already well-known Nana Upstairs and Nana Downstairs, remembers his first day of school (“ ‘ When do we learn to read?’ I asked. ‘Oh, we don’t learn how to read in kindergarten. We learn to read next year, in first grade.’ ‘Fine,’ I said. ‘I’ll be back next year.’ And I walked right out of school.”), recalls holidays, and explains his indignation when the plot of Disney’s “Snow White” doesn’t match the story he knows. Generously illustrated with vignettes and larger scenes, this cheery, well-knit narrative proves that an old dog can learn new tricks, and learn them surpassingly well. (Autobiography. 7-9)
Pub Date: April 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-399-23246-X
Page Count: 58
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1999
Categories: CHILDREN'S BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR
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