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necessaryfictions's reviews
181 reviews
Stompin' at the Savoy: How Chick Webb Became the King of Drums by Moira Rose Donohue
4.0
love the sounds and art of this! more blackness and disability intersection :)
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever: The Courage to Dream by Frederick Joseph
blackness and disability intersection :) the emphasis on having the courage to forge a new way to your dreams despite an inaccessible world while using touchstones of characters from wakanda that kids know and respect to help convey the message is great. the smeary paint style is sooo pretty and wakandan assistive devices are cool as hell
In the Meadow of Fantasies by Hadi Mohammadi
4.25
the horse of more than one color, the horse with more than one home of its own, the horse with more than one dream, shared its colors with the young girl, shared its flights of fantasy with the young girl.
the cadence of this book is lovely. love a picture book that plays with rhythm. i was hoping for a bit more explicit reference to the main characters physical disability - a child could easily think she was just in bed daydreaming rather than bedbound - but also i like that a disabled character can just exist, and have this poignant subtextual message of indulging in fantasy, and creating stories, creating a world where all the horses who have will share with all the horses who have not. the illustrations are also so beautiful, i love the way the horses are drawn and the use of colors!
the cadence of this book is lovely. love a picture book that plays with rhythm. i was hoping for a bit more explicit reference to the main characters physical disability - a child could easily think she was just in bed daydreaming rather than bedbound - but also i like that a disabled character can just exist, and have this poignant subtextual message of indulging in fantasy, and creating stories, creating a world where all the horses who have will share with all the horses who have not. the illustrations are also so beautiful, i love the way the horses are drawn and the use of colors!
Up and Adam by Debbie Zapata
so sweet!!! up and at 'em interpreted as up and adam spurring the day of helping is really cute. would be a good read aloud
Before She Was Harriet by Lesa Cline-Ransome
4.0
and remember
her days
as a suffragist
as a general
as a spy
as a nurse
as aunt harriet
as moses
as a conductor
as minty
as araminta
who dreamed
of living long enough
to one day
be old
stuff and achy
tired and worn and wrinkled
and free
her days
as a suffragist
as a general
as a spy
as a nurse
as aunt harriet
as moses
as a conductor
as minty
as araminta
who dreamed
of living long enough
to one day
be old
stuff and achy
tired and worn and wrinkled
and free
Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat by Javaka Steptoe
art is the street games of little children, in our style and the words that we speak. it is how the messy patchwork of the city creates new meaning for ordinary things.
the illustrations reflect these words and this style and this life so beautifully. radiant!
the illustrations reflect these words and this style and this life so beautifully. radiant!
You Come from Greatness: A Celebration of Black History: A Picture Book by Sara Chinakwe
more god framing than i generally enjoy, but a good book in the roster of picture books to build up, uplift, and empower black kids with knowledge before the world tries to tear them down. i like that the figures of black history are not only labeled in the backmatter but on the pages they appear and i like the diaspora diversity of the people highlighted!
On Her Wings: The Story of Toni Morrison by Jerdine Nolen, James Ransome
her story words were so mighty, mighty enough to lift that old blanket of oppression and pull against each thread until the blanket just unraveled. that girl held the mirror of light and understanding in her hands, shining it, reflecting it onto the people of the world.
Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut by Derrick Barnes
i like when the cadence of this book got extra Black. and i love that this kid is a trumpet player- he looks it!
The Negro Speaks of Rivers by E.B. Lewis, Langston Hughes
emotional
4.75
what masterful pairing of illustration to poetry. every page makes me want to stop and take it in. the tenderness, the pain, the relief, the reflections of Black skin in the water. thank you langston hughes always!