Illustrator and fine artist Daniel Minter won a long-overdue Caldecott Honor for his stunning art which, according to his website, “comes from a soul at home at the crossroads, at home where ancient ritual and future possibilities hold the hand of the present, at home where prayers and soul songs are made concrete, where the rooted artifice of history can transform everyday tools into sacred objects and everyday people into sacred subjects.” This vivid evocation of a very particular cultural experience has the power to touch readers of all backgrounds with the universal truth of what it means to return to the people and the places in which we are rooted. Kelly Starling Lyons portrays in poetic text the deep richness and joy of multigenerational Black family life, defined by love, not by loss. “Nothing is more important than family,” says great-grandmother Granny in this moving and beautiful book, which has us looking forward to the day we can reunite, unmasked, to share traditions with those to whom we belong. ![]() For a book with similar themes and tone, but different cultural context, see Town is by the Sea by Joanne Schwartz, illustrated by Sydney Smith, which is about a Nova Scotian boy waiting for his father to return from working in the coal mines under the sea. This book affirms how hard it is to miss someone and to worry about them, and how memories and hope can help ease such longing. Many children today are worried about loved ones who are essential workers in hospitals, nursing homes, grocery stores, and elsewhere, putting their own wellbeing on the line to help our society. (On her website Woodson says, “I had been reading stories about Rosie the Riveter and couldn’t find any with African American women in them so I started researching.”) Ada Ruth and her grandmother stick to their daily routines in warm scenes of domesticity that evoke both the strength of their bond and the longing they share for their loved one’s return. Set during WWII, Woodson’s story is about a young African American girl named Ada Ruth whose mother leaves their rural home to work in Chicago in support of the war effort. This Caldecott Honor title has a historical context that will resonate with many contemporary children whose loved ones are essential workers. In a starred Horn Book review, Autumn calls it “a treasure trove of positivity, strength, and pride for anyone seeking to uplift and educate young people.” The backmatter also includes other valuable information: poems, a playlist of songs, a timeline of names for African Americans, and a bibliography with further reading for adults. Black is a culture” and “My color is Black.” While the references to history, art, and culture will be familiar to many adult readers, an afterword provides details for sharing with children. Two verses repeat throughout the pages: “Black is a color. On one spread, “Black is the power of a movement in pain” accompanies pictures of people holding signs saying “I am a man,” “Equal Rights,” and “Black Lives Matter.” The powerful images alternate between everyday children and families, and famous historical figures such as Thurgood Marshall, Billie Holiday, and Paul Lawrence Dunbar, whose work is referenced poetically in the text. Joy’s rhythmic verses and Holmes’s vivid artwork combine to offer a celebration of Black American culture and history that connects current movements for social justice to past Civil Rights movements, offering context and continuity between generations. We believe that small acts like sharing picture books with Asian characters as protagonists can add up to help resist the racist exotification at the heart of much of the racism Asian Americans face. ![]() Such a shift feels particularly important now, as political leaders and conspiracy theories blame the pandemic on China and fan anti-Asian sentiment in the United States by depicting Asian people as inherently un-American. Lin has said that these two picture books signal a shift from a focus in her work on her Asian heritage to one of claiming her American identity. ![]() It shouldn’t be notable that the protagonist is an Asian boy, but unfortunately, it is, with the CCBC reporting only 7% of children’s books published in 2018 featuring API/APA characters (a statistic that says nothing about the quality of the representation in those titles). ![]() This companion title to Lin’s Caldecott Honor book, A Big Mooncake for Little Star offers a whimsical, original porquoi tale to explain the source of snowstorms.
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