Tiny Stitches: The Life of Medical Pioneer Vivien Thomas is a children's picture book written by Gwendolyn Hooks and illustrated by Colin Bootman. It Tiny Stitches: The Life of Medical Pioneer Vivien Thomas is a children's picture book written by Gwendolyn Hooks and illustrated by Colin Bootman. It illuminates the trials and triumphs of Vivien Thomas and his vital role in the development of children's open-heart surgery.
Vivien Theodore Thomas was an American laboratory supervisor who developed a procedure used to treat blue baby syndrome, now known as cyanotic heart disease, in the 1940s. He was the assistant to surgeon Alfred Blalock in Blalock's experimental animal laboratory at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, and later at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.
Hooks' text is rather simplistic, straightforward, and informative. Hooks writes with vivid detail and immediacy, describing Thomas's anxiety as he coaches Dr. Blalock, the doctor who originally hired him, on performing the first surgery. Backmatter includes notes, glossary, and references. Bootman's subdued watercolors channel the sobering climate of Depression-era America in a sensitive portrayal of a little-recognized medical pioneer.
The premise of the book is rather straightforward. Vivien Thomas had long strived to become a doctor, but after losing his college savings in the stock market crash of 1929, he instead took a job as a research technician at Vanderbilt University. As an African-American, Thomas' title was officially janitor. Despite persistent racial prejudice, Thomas devised a means to perform open-heart surgery on "blue babies" who were not getting enough oxygen, a procedure that would save the lives of many infants.
All in all, Tiny Stitches: The Life of Medical Pioneer Vivien Thomas is a rousing tribute to a man unjustly forgotten....more
Muhammad Ali: Champion of the World is a children's picture book written by Jonah Winter and illustrated by François Roca. With biblical references anMuhammad Ali: Champion of the World is a children's picture book written by Jonah Winter and illustrated by François Roca. With biblical references and a reverential tone, this lyrical story of Muhammad Ali paints the fighter, and the history of African-American boxers, in mythic proportions.
Muhammad Ali (born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.) was an American professional boxer, activist, entertainer, poet, and philanthropist. Nicknamed The Greatest, he is widely regarded as one of the most significant and celebrated sports and cultural figures of the 20th century.
Winter's text is rather simplistic, straightforward, informative, and lyrical. Winter's cadenced, non-rhyming verse highlights just a few episodes from Ali's career and glorifies him as a king and near-miraculous savior, rather than emphasizing hard work on his part, but the result is no less inspiring. A prefatory note gives readers some background and prepares them for the presentation to come. Roca's strikingly realistic oil illustrations pack a powerful punch. His beautiful poster-like oils are built on strong horizontal and vertical lines, the light shining on Ali emphasizing his status as Chosen One.
The premise of the book is rather straightforward. It opens with a brief history of African-American boxers with Jack Johnson, Joe Louis, and Sonny Liston, which segues into Cassius Clay. It shows his brief rise in boxing, showcasing the match between him and Sonny Liston, changing his name to Muhammad Ali, refusing to fight in a war (Vietnam), losing his titles, and returning again.
All in all, Muhammad Ali: Champion of the World is wonderful biography – to the point of being a hagiography, but an effective one nevertheless....more
King Richard: Nixon and Watergate — an American Tragedy is a biography of Richard Nixon, the 37th President of the United States. Michael Dobbs, a BriKing Richard: Nixon and Watergate — an American Tragedy is a biography of Richard Nixon, the 37th President of the United States. Michael Dobbs, a British-American non-fiction author and journalist wrote this biography.
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, Nixon previously served as the 36th vice president from 1953 to 1961, having risen to national prominence as a representative and senator from California.
The unraveling of Richard Nixon's presidency plays out in intimate detail in this vivid recreation of a key period in the Watergate scandal. Drawing on recently released tapes from Nixon's secret White House recording system, historian Dobbs focuses on the six months between Nixon’s second inauguration, when he was riding high from his 1972 re-election landslide and peace treaty with North Vietnam, and July 17, 1973, when the press first reported on the existence of the recording devices, setting him on the path to resignation in August 1974.
It's a gripping story of decline under pressure as Nixon and his aides confront mounting extortion demands from the Watergate burglars. Nixon assures White House counsel John Dean in a discussion of hush-money procedures and grows increasingly desperate and fractious as investigators close in.
King Richard: Nixon and Watergate — an American Tragedy is written and researched extremely well – it is far from perfect, but it comes rather close. Dobbs skillfully quotes from the tapes to paint colorful, nuanced portraits of White House yes-men, a manipulative Henry Kissinger, and a Nixon who is vulnerable, melancholy, paranoid, and vengeful. The result is an indelible study of a political antihero.
All in all, King Richard: Nixon and Watergate — an American Tragedy is a riveting portrait of ambition, hubris, betrayal, and the downfall of an American president....more
In the Shadow of the Fallen Towers: The Seconds, Minutes, Hours, Days, Weeks, Months, and Years after the 9/11 Attacks is a graphic novel written and In the Shadow of the Fallen Towers: The Seconds, Minutes, Hours, Days, Weeks, Months, and Years after the 9/11 Attacks is a graphic novel written and illustrated by Don Brown. The terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York City in 2001 changed the world irrevocably.
Commemorating 9/11 two decades after the tragedy, Brown offers a visual recollection of Sept. 11, 2001, that both humanizes and poignantly remembers an overwhelming chapter in American history, portraying the experiences of real individuals who lived through the attacks and their aftermath.
In the Shadow of the Fallen Towers: The Seconds, Minutes, Hours, Days, Weeks, Months, and Years after the 9/11 Attacks is written and constructed rather well. Sourced extensively from news articles, documentaries, and reports, the quotes and harrowing, accessibly worded stories of survivors, first responders, volunteers, and soldiers are rendered in evocative, muted black lines and washes of watercolor.
Panels adeptly guide and sustain reader attention, with perspectives or subject matter shifting as intensity builds. Two-thirds of the graphic novel centers New York City on and around September 11, though accounts from the Pentagon attack and Shanksville plane crash are included. Notable is Brown's ability to depict, in this economical format, the event's wide-ranging aftereffects, including Islamophobia, the physical and mental health toll on workers dismantling "the Pile," and U.S. soldiers ending up on horseback in Afghanistan.
All in all In the Shadow of the Fallen Towers: The Seconds, Minutes, Hours, Days, Weeks, Months, and Years after the 9/11 Attacks is a deeply moving account of the immediate aftermath and lasting effects of the largest terrorist attack on United States soil....more
Mrs. Harkness and the Panda is a children's picture book written by Alicia Potter and illustrated by Melissa Sweet. It is a story about an unlikely AmMrs. Harkness and the Panda is a children's picture book written by Alicia Potter and illustrated by Melissa Sweet. It is a story about an unlikely American explorer brings the first panda to the West.
Ruth Elizabeth Harkness was an American fashion designer, socialite, and animal trafficker, who traveled to China in 1936 and brought out the first live baby giant panda from its family and natural habitat to the United States – not in a cage, or on a leash, but wrapped in her arms.
Potter's text is rather simplistic, straightforward, and informative. Potter's frugal narrative focuses on Harkness' apparently fearless embrace of the adventure. Backmatter includes a timeline reveals that Su Lin lived only 14 months after coming to live at the Brookfield Zoo outside Chicago. Sweet's engaging mixed-media illustrations set a quiet, sophisticated tone with inspired collages brim with a sense of time and place with patterned and textured torn-paper backgrounds serve as canvases for several scenes.
The premise of the book is rather straightforward. It tells the little-known story of American fashion designer Ruth Harkness, who intrepidly trekked through China in 1936 to bring the first live panda back to the United States. With help, Harkness returns with a baby panda she names Su Lin.
All in all, Mrs. Harkness and the Panda is wonderful narrative retelling how the first panda bear was brought to America....more
The Extraordinary Music of Mr. Ives: The True Story of a Famous American Composer is a children's picture book written and illustrated by Joanne StanbThe Extraordinary Music of Mr. Ives: The True Story of a Famous American Composer is a children's picture book written and illustrated by Joanne Stanbridge. This startling biography of Charles Ives centers on a historical tragedy and its impact on the composer, whose work was unappreciated during his lifetime.
Charles Edward Ives was an American modernist composer, one of the first American composers of international renown. His music was largely ignored during his early life, and many of his works went unperformed for many years. Later in life, the quality of his music was publicly recognized, and he came to be regarded as an "American Original".
Stanbridge's text is rather simplistic, straightforward, and informative. Stanbridge's work is its own curious, yet quietly inspired composition, a meditative ode to an artist whose work lives on with everyday sounds as music. Backmatter includes an author's note, source list, and suggestions for further reading and listening. Stanbridge's doll-like figures contrast uncomfortably with the silent scenes of disaster, as terrified individuals in a small boat look back at those clinging for life.
The premise of the book is rather straightforward. Ives has always heard music all his life. However, in 1915, when Ives hears news of the Lusitania sinking, his musical inspiration goes silent. Ives begins to hear music again when mournful New Yorkers join in song together and new inspiration from tragedy is reborn.
All in all, The Extraordinary Music of Mr. Ives: The True Story of a Famous American Composer is moving narrative of finding something special through tragedy....more
Rod Serling: His Life, Work, and Imagination is a biography of Rod Serling, an American screenwriter, playwright, television producer, and host. NichoRod Serling: His Life, Work, and Imagination is a biography of Rod Serling, an American screenwriter, playwright, television producer, and host. Nicholas Parisi, a board member of the Rod Serling Memorial Foundation, wrote this biography with a forward written by the daughter of Rod Serling – Anne Serling.
Rodman Edward Serling was an American screenwriter, playwright, television producer, and narrator and on-screen host, best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his anthology television series, The Twilight Zone.
Nicholas Parisi's comprehensive study covers Sterling's wide-ranging work in multiple mediums that included radio, television, theater, and film. It is a volume of perceptive criticism with valuable biographical insights as Parisi traces Serling's evolution as a writer and the themes he returned to throughout his career as a writer and public personality.
Serling grew up in in Binghamton, New York and had a rather ordinary childhood, a place he would often return to in his writing. He served in the Pacific Theatre during the Second World War as a paratrooper, earning a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star. His war experiences would influence his work which often dealt with the lasting consequences of violence.
After college Serling found work writing scripts for local radio and television in Cincinnati. Parisi devotes particular attention to a short-lived anthology television series Serling authored entitled The Storm – a precursor to The Twilight Zone. The Storm revealed his interest in fantastical storytelling to address current social issues.
From Cincinnati he moved on to New York City and began writing for the television networks. He broke in during the "Golden Age of Television" when live dramas were shaping the future of the medium.
Rod Serling: His Life, Work, and Imagination is written and researched rather well. Parisi explores Serling's entire, massive body of work, besides The Twilight Zone. Great insights were drawn directly from Serling's personal correspondence, unpublished writings, speeches, and unproduced scripts, which Parisi, being on the Board of Directors of the Rod Serling Memorial Foundation, had unprecedented access to. It is part biography, part videography, and part critical analysis.
All in all, Rod Serling: His Life, Work, and Imagination is a wonderful and painstakingly researched look at all of Serling's work – in and out of The Twilight Zone....more
Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done? is a graphic novel co-written by Eric Powell and Harold Schechter and illustrated by Eric Powell. One of America's Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done? is a graphic novel co-written by Eric Powell and Harold Schechter and illustrated by Eric Powell. One of America's most enduring bogeymen gets another feature role in this punishingly gruesome graphic novel from true crime writer Schechter.
Edward Theodore Gein, also known as the Butcher of Plainfield or the Plainfield Ghoul, was an American convicted murderer and body snatcher. Gein's crimes, committed around his hometown of Plainfield, Wisconsin, gathered widespread notoriety in 1957 after authorities discovered he had exhumed corpses from local graveyards and fashioned trophies and keepsakes from their bones and skin.
Ed Gein was raised in dismal small-town Wisconsin by a reportedly feckless father and domineering, fanatically religious mother. In 1957, Gein was arrested after human remains were found at his farmhouse. There, he used a skull as a bowl and refashioned the skin of corpses, some from grave-robbing, into furniture, masks, and a female body suit.
Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done? is written and constructed rather well. Grotesque dramatizations from Gein's stunted life, drawn in a gritty noirish fashion, run just shy of comic exaggeration, and are amply skin-crawling. The exposition-heavy attempts to plumb his madness include a professor's lecture to a cynical newsman about Gein being driven less by Freudian mother attachment than by being a classic necrophile who was perhaps in the grip of his own creepy religion.
All in all Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done? is a wonderful and terrifying narrative of a mass murderer, which proves the adage that life at times could be more horrifying than fiction....more
Galápagos George is a children's picture book written by Jean Craighead George and illustrated by Wendell Minor. The passing of Lonesome George, the lGalápagos George is a children's picture book written by Jean Craighead George and illustrated by Wendell Minor. The passing of Lonesome George, the last of the saddleback tortoises from the island of Pinta, provides the occasion to demonstrate how different species might descend from a common ancestor.
Lonesome George was a male Pinta Island tortoise (Chelonoidis abingdonii) and the last known individual of the species. In his last years, he was known as the rarest creature in the world. George serves as an important symbol for conservation efforts in the Galápagos Islands and throughout the world.
George's text is rather simplistic, straightforward, and informative. George skillfully captures the concept of adaptation in natural selection. Backmatter includes key terms, timeline, and resources. Minor's soft-edged watercolors fill the spreads with realism and muted hues.
The premise of the book is rather straightforward. Beginning with a common ancestor, referred to as Giantess George, which originated in South America, the story traces the species' arrival in the Galápagos and relates some of the islands’ history, including a visit from Charles Darwin. The book culminates with the death of the last of the Pinta Island saddlebacks, known as Lonesome George.
All in all, Galápagos George is a heartfelt tribute to one George by another....more
The Streak: How Joe DiMaggio Became America's Hero is a children's picture book written by Barb Rosenstock and illustrated by Terry Widener. Joe DiMagThe Streak: How Joe DiMaggio Became America's Hero is a children's picture book written by Barb Rosenstock and illustrated by Terry Widener. Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak is considered one of the greatest feats in baseball and the one least likely to be replicated.
Joseph Paul DiMaggio, nicknamed "Joltin' Joe" and "The Yankee Clipper", was an American baseball center fielder who played his entire thirteen year career in Major League Baseball for the New York Yankees. Born to Sicilian Italian immigrants in California, he is widely considered one of the greatest baseball players of all time, and had a 56-game hitting streak, a record that still stands.
Rosenstock's text is rather simplistic, straightforward, and informative. Rosenstock builds wonderful tension and emotion as the streak grows. Along with play-by-play for some of the key hits, there's some fascinating information about DiMaggio's proud and determined character, as well as some lesser-known events. Backmatter includes afterword, author's note, statistics, source notes, bibliography. Widener's expansive, double-page illustrations, rendered in acrylic on Bristol paper, in earth tones of green and gold, are larger than life, elongating DiMaggio as he takes his stance, rounds the bases or grips his bat.
The premise of the book is rather straightforward. It is 1941, war is looming and DiMaggio set a new Major League Baseball (MLB) record with a 56-game hitting streak, uniting a nation. It is a rousing and inspiring account of an athletic achievement that has yet to be bested.
All in all, The Streak: How Joe DiMaggio Became America's Hero is freshly presented for a new generation of fans....more
When Bob Met Woody: The Story of the Young Bob Dylan is a children's picture book written by Gary Golio and illustrated by Marc Burckhardt. It is a seWhen Bob Met Woody: The Story of the Young Bob Dylan is a children's picture book written by Gary Golio and illustrated by Marc Burckhardt. It is a sensitively written, meticulously researched picture biography, capturing the intense ambition of the young Bob Dylan.
Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, is an American singer-songwriter, author and visual artist. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career spanning sixty years. Woodrow Wilson Guthrie was an American singer-songwriter and one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American socialism and anti-fascism.
Golio's text is rather simplistic, straightforward, and informative. Golio's lyrical, plainspoken writing that echoes folk music itself provides a wonderful narrative of Dylan's meeting with Guthrie and with quotations sprinkled throughout the text is well annotated. Backmatter includes an afterword, sources, and resources. Burckhardt's crackle-texture, generously scaled acrylics mix stirring portraiture with mural-like iconography.
The premise of the book is rather straightforward. It portrays a young Dylan as a teenager driven by both his music and his sense of alienation. Dylan's determination to find a bigger, brighter world and his belief that Guthrie and his music are "the North Star" gives the narrative momentum that propels the story to its final pages, where an ailing Guthrie gives the young troubadour his blessing.
All in all, When Bob Met Woody: The Story of the Young Bob Dylan is a wonderful biography of one folk legend meeting another....more
Jimi: Sounds Like a Rainbow: a Story of the Young Jimi Hendrix is a children's picture book written by Gary Golio and illustrated by Javaka Steptoe. GJimi: Sounds Like a Rainbow: a Story of the Young Jimi Hendrix is a children's picture book written by Gary Golio and illustrated by Javaka Steptoe. Golio examines Hendrix's childhood creativity as a nurtured progression that stoked an explosively influential expression in the 1960s.
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American musician, singer, and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most influential electric guitarists in the history of popular music, and one of the most celebrated musicians of the 20th century.
Golio's text is rather simplistic, straightforward, and informative. Golio lucidly demonstrates that a path to creative excellence is not only possible for young people but self-actualizing. Backmatter includes biographical note, author's note, websites, illustrator's note, bibliography, and discography. Steptoe builds distinctive three-dimensional artwork by painting plywood portraits of Hendrix and his friends and stacking them on painted backgrounds.
The premise of the book is rather straightforward. It describes the sonic landscape of Hendrix's youth and builds on his discoveries with his guitar until his creations begin to satisfy him. This biography emphasizes the significance of Hendrix's friendships with two boys, Terry and Potato Chip, and the support of his father, who buys him a new white Supro Ozark electric guitar even when money is tight.
All in all, Jimi: Sounds Like a Rainbow: a Story of the Young Jimi Hendrix is an outstanding onomatopoeic biography that teaches important work can be done by young people; artistry develops slowly, through careful work; and surroundings that appear hostile to creativity can just as well nurture it through the example of Jimi Hendrix....more
Fireboat: The Heroic Adventures of the John J. Harvey is a children's picture book written and illustrated by Maira Kalman. It relays the life of JohnFireboat: The Heroic Adventures of the John J. Harvey is a children's picture book written and illustrated by Maira Kalman. It relays the life of John J. Harvey, her launching, retirement, and re-commison as a New York City fireboat.
John J. Harvey is a fireboat formerly of the New York City Fire Department in New York City, famed for returning to service following the September 11, 2001 attacks. She is among the most powerful fireboats ever built, capable of pumping up to 18,000 gallons of water a minute.
Kalman's text is rather simplistic, straightforward, and informative. Kalman relates the heroic role of the John J. Harvey on 9/11 with intelligence and conveys those unfathomable events in a manner that a picture book audience can comprehend. Spot illustrations show its equipment and introduce the crew, while views of the New York harbor stretch across a spread.
The premise of the book is rather straightforward. The narrative begins in 1931, New York City, and the happenings around the city at the time, which includes the launching of the John J. Harvey – the largest, fastest and shiniest fireboat of them all. It then jumps ahead to 1995, when the John J. Harvey is set to retire, but abruptly jumps to 9/11 when the John J. Harvey is re-commissioned into service to help with the terrorist attack.
All in all, Fireboat: The Heroic Adventures of the John J. Harvey is a nice mix of New York City history, fireboat operation, and 9/11 memorial that would probably need adults on hand to answer questions that are bound to rise....more
Lugosi: The Rise and Fall of Hollywood's Dracula is a graphic novel written and illustrated by Koren Shadmi. It delivers a poignant graphic biography Lugosi: The Rise and Fall of Hollywood's Dracula is a graphic novel written and illustrated by Koren Shadmi. It delivers a poignant graphic biography of horror star Bela Lugosi that depicts the Dracula actor's real-life and on-screen personas with equal aplomb.
Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó, known professionally as Bela Lugosi, was a Hungarian-American actor best remembered for portraying Count Dracula in the 1931 film and for his roles in other horror films.
Interspersing Lugosi's dying days of morphine-induced hallucinations, colored in sepia-tone, with black-and-white flashbacks, the brisk history narrates his rise to silver screen success, his extravagant lifestyle, self-delusions, and many marriages and divorces against Hollywood's evolution from the silent era to the glut and decline of horror pictures.
Lugosi: The Rise and Fall of Hollywood's Dracula is written and constructed rather well. Shadmi's artwork flows in uncomplicated, but immensely expressive lines. Cartoon caricatures of figures including Boris Karloff, James Whale, and Tor Johnson are instantly recognizable, while Lugosi's vampiric glare hits appropriately chilling, with detailed scene-work conveying the moody atmosphere of films such as Dracula or White Zombie. Both humorous and heartbreaking, Lugosi's final screen appearance in Ed Wood's Plan 9 from Outer Space closes the book with a triumphant curtain call.
All in all Lugosi: The Rise and Fall of Hollywood's Dracula is a wonderful, albeit tragic biographical graphic novel that smoothly blends characterization with chiaroscuro to spotlight Lugosi's uncanny magnetism....more
Imagine That!: How Dr. Seuss Wrote the Cat in the Hat is a children's picture book written by Judy Sierra and illustrated by Kevin Hawkes. It retells Imagine That!: How Dr. Seuss Wrote the Cat in the Hat is a children's picture book written by Judy Sierra and illustrated by Kevin Hawkes. It retells how the masterpiece of The Cat in the Hat was created.
Theodor Seuss Geisel was an American children's author, political cartoonist, illustrator, poet, animator, and filmmaker. He is known for his work writing and illustrating more than sixty books under the pen name Dr. Seuss.
Sierra's text is rather simplistic, straightforward, and informative. Sierra writes mostly in prose, she occasionally slips into Seussian rhyme, as if to channel the pieces coming together in Geisel's mind. Backmatter includes endnotes from Sierra, Hawkes, and Seuss himself. Amid representational portraits of Geisel, Hawkes dives headlong into the wooly world of the books he created, blending imagination and reality.
The premise of the book is rather straightforward. In 1954, there was no real book for children who are beginning to read to get excited about. So, Theodor Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss, endeavored to create a beginning reader to do so. It took Geisel more than a year to get The Cat in the Hat just right and irrevocably changed reading for children.
All in all, Imagine That!: How Dr. Seuss Wrote the Cat in the Hat is wonderful biography that is buoyantly told, rich in insights into the creative process as well as the crafts of writing, illustrating, and storytelling....more
Talkin' Guitar: A Story of Young Doc Watson is a children's picture book written and illustrated by Robbin Gourley. This affectionate portrait of guitTalkin' Guitar: A Story of Young Doc Watson is a children's picture book written and illustrated by Robbin Gourley. This affectionate portrait of guitar great Arthel "Doc" Watson focuses on his formative musical influences during his Appalachian childhood.
Arthel Lane "Doc" Watson was an American guitarist, songwriter, and singer of bluegrass, folk, country, blues, and gospel music. Watson's fingerstyle and flatpicking skills, as well as his knowledge of traditional American music, were highly regarded.
The text is rather simplistic, straightforward, and informative. Gourley's lyrical prose incorporates occasional diction derived from the setting. Backmatter includes a biographical note, bibliography, list of websites. Gourley's watercolors, while often lovely, depict Arthel unevenly, with some spreads appearing less finished than others.
The premise of the book is rather straightforward. As a child, Watson heard music everywhere from the mundane happenings of life. Playing guitar provided a way for him to communicate with the world without the need for sight. While Watson would one day become a multi-award winning musician, the focus of this book remains squarely on the roots of and his dedication to his musical passion.
All in all, Talkin' Guitar: A Story of Young Doc Watson is lyrical and sensitive narration of a celebrated guitarist's early inspirations....more
Wonderful Women of the World is an anthology of nineteen comic vignettes biographies of wonderful women of the world, collected, edited, and an introdWonderful Women of the World is an anthology of nineteen comic vignettes biographies of wonderful women of the world, collected, edited, and an introduction by Laurie Halse Anderson. It tells, in comic fashion, real women who are just as much as superhero as the one who grace the cover.
For the most part, this collection of comic vignettes was written and constructed rather well. This compelling graphic collection features nineteen women from all walks of life and divided into five sections of roughly four biographies under each section: Strength (4), Compassion (4), Justice (3), Truth (4), and Equality (4). This anthology is filled to the brim with beautiful artwork and sincere interpretations of key moments in these women’s lives that had an impact on humanity.
Like most anthologies there are weaker contributions and Wonderful Women of the World is not an exception. It is not so much as weaker entries, it just that each entry has a different creative team (writer and illustrator), which makes the anthology as a whole felt rather hodgepodge as talent differs wildly, but done rather well nevertheless – just some creative teams better than others.
Entries includes: Serena Williams, Teara Fraser, Malala Yousafzai, Leiomy Maldonado, Brené Brown, Beyoncé, Mari Copeny, Mariana Costa Checa, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Greta Thunberg, Edith Windsor, Khatijah Mohamad Yusoff, Francisca Nneka Okeke, Judith Heumann, Mácia Barbosa, Ellen Ochoa, Naomi Watanabe, Marsha P. Johnson, and Keiko Agena. Additionally, there are five portraits, which is just a page dedicated to that particular woman: Jenette Kahn, Mary Seacole, Wilma Mankiller, Ada Lovelace, and Venus Williams.
All in all, Wonderful Women of the World is a wonderful anthology of biographical vignettes that is showcases women from around the world and from all walks of life that has influenced the world for the better....more
Silent Days, Silent Dreams is a children's picture book written and illustrated by Allen Say. It is an imagined biography in words and pictures of theSilent Days, Silent Dreams is a children's picture book written and illustrated by Allen Say. It is an imagined biography in words and pictures of the self-taught artist James Castle.
James Castle was an American artist born in Garden Valley, Idaho. Although Castle did not know about the art world outside of his small community, his work ran parallel to the development of 20th-century art history.
The text is rather simplistic, straightforward, and informative. Say tells the haunting story of outsider artist James Castle, a deaf and autistic man whose talent was not recognized until late in his life. Backmatter includes an author's note and bibliography. Drawings done in the style of Castle accompany the story and Say also supplies pen-and-ink vignettes and anguished charcoal portraits of the bullying the man endured throughout his life.
The premise of the book is rather straightforward. Narrating in the voice of Castle's nephew, it describes how Castle was born in 1899 into an Idaho farm family with no resources to help their son. He never learned to speak or read and when upset, he shrieked uncontrollably. However, he found consolation in drawing and made some 15,000 pictures, often with soot and sharpened sticks after teachers confiscated his drawing materials.
All in all, Silent Days, Silent Dreams is a remarkable and inspiring biography of an equally remarkable and inspiring life....more
Doctor Esperanto and the Language of Hope is a children's picture book written by Mara Rockliff and illustrated by Zosia Dzierżawska. It centers on LuDoctor Esperanto and the Language of Hope is a children's picture book written by Mara Rockliff and illustrated by Zosia Dzierżawska. It centers on Ludwik Łazarz Zamenhof, whose penname is Doctor Esperanto, thought a common language could bring peace and communication and sought to do so.
Ludwik Łazarz Zamenhof was a Polish ophthalmologist who lived for most of his life in Warsaw. He is best known as the creator of Esperanto, the most widely used constructed international auxiliary language.
Rockliff's text is rather simplistic, straightforward, and informative. Rockliff recounts the events simply, focusing on insights into Zamenholf's motives and processes in the construction of Esperanto vocabulary. However, the languages that Zamenhof used as a base for Esperanto are never named in the text or labeled in the illustrations, nor, frustratingly, are the Esperanto phrases translated. Backmatter includes an extensive afterward and sources. Dzierżawska's digitally assembled pencil-and-ink illustrations complement the text and depict time and setting, also providing visual mapping of vocabulary development.
The premise of the book is rather straightforward. Ludwik Łazarz Zamenhof hated war and conflict. He lived in late-19th-century Bialystok, where a diverse, distrustful population spoke many languages. He believed that a common language could bring everyone together, so he began the task of inventing that language. His first attempts were failures, lacking predictable patterns, but eventually, a large group of followers from all over the world came to love this language of peace and honor the person who created it.
All in all, Doctor Esperanto and the Language of Hope is an unusual and fascinating tribute to a linguist that believes that a common language could bring peace and communication....more
José! Born to Dance: The Story of José Limón is a children's picture book written by Susanna Reich and illustrated by Raúl Colón. The mystery of the cJosé! Born to Dance: The Story of José Limón is a children's picture book written by Susanna Reich and illustrated by Raúl Colón. The mystery of the creative process comes through in this biography of dancer José Limón, born in Mexico in 1908.
José Arcadio Limón was a dancer and choreographer who developed what is now known as 'Limón technique'. In the 1940s he founded the José Limón Dance Company and in 1968 he created the José Limón Foundation to carry on his work.
Reich's text is rather simplistic, straightforward, and informative. Reich's poetic language evokes the sensual experiences of childhood that inspired the boy's artistic yearnings. The onomatopoeic phrases that run throughout the book help to demonstrate the richness of Jose's experiences and how he brings them to bear on his style of dance. Backmatter includes an extended biographical note and a select list of resources in several media. Colón's artwork, in earthy tones, captures a mood of sober intensity. His signature style with its visible scratch marks and swirling brushstrokes provide a grainy, textured quality that deftly combines a sense of movement and stillness.
The premise of the book is rather straightforward. Civil war had causes Jose's family to flee Mexico to the United States. Always the artistic boy and a quick learner, Jose moves from drawing and painting to dancing and debuting onstage just six weeks after his first dance class.
All in all, José! Born to Dance: The Story of José Limón is an inspiring tribute to a major figure in the arts....more
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