Girl learns her dark skin is beautiful in lyrical book

 

Sulwe

Written by Lupita Nyong’o and illustrated by Vashti Harrison

Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2019

“Sulwe” is a story about a little girl whose skin is very dark. She is darker than everyone in her family. She is darker than anyone in her school.

Her sister Mich has light-colored skin. People at school call her Sunshine, Ray, and Beauty. At school, Sulwe is called Blackie, Darky, and Night.

Sulwe feels hurt by the nicknames. She hides away while her sister makes many friends.

She dreams about having light skin like her sister and making friends, too.

She tries to rub off her darkness with an eraser, but only hurt herself. Then she tries lightening her skin with her mother’s makeup. She knows she’ll get in big trouble from Mama.

Then she eats only the lightest, brightest foods, but only gets a stomachache.

She goes to bed and prays for a miracle. When her mother comes in to wake her, she looks in the mirror. She still looks the same.    

She tells her mother about her worries. Mama tells her that her name means star. Brightness isn’t in her skin, but it is what she is.

She tells Sulwe that she is beautiful.  Real beauty comes from your mind and your heart, she says. It begins with how you see yourself.

Sulwe worries all day about what her mother has said, but that night she has a visit from a shooting star. The star invites her to come along. She hops on the star and flies out the window.

The star tells her a story about the sisters Night and Day at the beginning of time. People mistreat Night so she goes away. When there is no Night, Day grows too long and everyone misses Night.

Day goes off to find Night. She finds her and tells her she misses her. Night says she also misses Day, but she doesn’t like being treated so badly for being dark. Day tells her that everyone needs her just the way she is.

Night returns and everyone rejoices. “We need the darkest night to get the deepest rest. We need you so that we can grow and dream and keep our secrets to ourselves.”

Day tells her sister that she is most beautiful when she is darkest.

Now that Day and Night are back together, a little bit of Night returns to Day in shadows. And a little bit of Day returns to Night in moonlight.

The star tells Sulwe, “You see, we need them both. Together they make the world we know, light and dark, strong and beautiful.”

Sulwe rises the next morning, beaming. She tells her mother she belongs in the world, dark and beautiful, bright and strong.

This moving story teaches children to see their own beauty.

About the Author

Lupita Nyong’o is a Kenyan actress and producer. Her first feature film role was in “12 Years a Slave,” for which she received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress as well as multiple accolades, including the Screen Actors Guild Award, the Critics’ Choice Award, the Independent Spirit Award, and the NAACP Award. She has since starred in Mira Nair’s “Queen of Katwe,” “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” Rya Coogler’s record-breaking box office hit “Black Panther,” and most recently in Jordan Peele’s critically acclaimed horror film “Us.” Nyong’o earned a Tony nomination for her Broadway debut in Danai Gurira’s play “Eclipsed.” She lives in Brooklyn.

About the Illustrator

Vashti Harrison is the author-illustrator of the “New York Times” best-selling book “Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History,” which is also an NAACP Image Award winner. She earned her BA from the University of Virginia with a double major in media studies and studio art and received her MFA in film and video from CalArts, where she rekindled a love for drawing and painting. Now she uses her love of both film and illustration to craft beautiful stories of children.  

Children learn about shapes in clever comics-style book

A Trapezoid Is Not a Dinosaur!

By Suzanne Morris

Charlesbridge, Watertown, MA, 2019

“A Trapezoid Is Not a Dinosaur!” is a clever story that teaches children about shapes. Using a comics design with speech bubbles, the story is told with many puns and word play.

Trapezoid is dying to be in Triangle’s play, “Shapes in Space,” but he can’t convince the other shapes that he fits in.

As all the shapes audition and tell about their strengths, Trapezoid keeps interrupting to say he has similar positive qualities. The other shapes are irritated.

Director Triangle says, “I’m a strong shape with a great sense of direction.” Trapezoid says, “I’m a strong shape, too. I’ll help you direct.”

Trapezoid hoists Triangle on top of him and says, “Look! Together we make a big triangle.” But Triangle is not impressed. He frowns and says, “A trapezoid is not a triangle.”

Next Square auditions. He says, “I have four sides. I can make a box.” Trapezoid jumps on stage and says, “I also have four sides. But I think outside the box!”

Square is annoyed and says, “A square has four equal sides. A trapezoid is not a square.”

The story continues like this until Triangle finally relents and tells Trapezoid he can be in the play.

But he casts him as a dinosaur. Trapezoid is angry and shouts, “A trapezoid is NOT a dinosaur!”

The show begins. Circle is a moon. Star is a falling star. Square and Triangle are supposed to be a rocket ship, but when Triangle shouts, “Go!” Square frowns and says, “Go where?”

Finally, Trapezoid saves the day. He bursts through a trap door on the floor of the stage and says he is “Trapezoid the Rocket Booster.” When Square sits on him, and Triangle on top of Square, Trapezoid makes a fantastic rocket booster.

The other shapes finally appreciate him, and the rocket blasts off. “Trapezoid, you are a supportive shape, after all,” says Triangle.

Morris creates fun colorful illustrations and makes the shape characters expressive despite their simplicity.

After the story, there is another page about shapes and readers are invited to go to the author’s website for more fun with shapes.

This funny book is a good introduction to shapes for children.

About the Author and Illustrator

Suzanne Morris is an author, illustrator, and designer with a BFA from Parsons School of Design. “A Trapezoid Is Not a Dinosaur!” is her debut picture book. She makes her marks by hand using pencils, ink, watercolor, and collage with digital retouching. She lives with her husband and daughter in New Jersey. Visit her at www.suzannemorrisart.com.

Funny book teaches youngsters about skulls

Skulls!

Written by Blair Thornburgh and illustrated by Scott Campbell

Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2019

Children are often frightened of skulls. They show up at Halloween and in scary movies. But “Skulls!” by Blair Thornburgh and Scott Campbell isn’t scary at all.

In fact, the numerous pictures of cartoon people with glowing white skulls make “Skulls” a funny book for youngsters.

Thornburgh’s words are friendly, conversational and educational. She teaches the reader that everyone has a skull and skulls are good things.

Skulls protect your brain, give your face a good shape, let your jaws snap, and hold your teeth in place. They have holes in them for sound, light, air, and grilled cheese sandwiches.

Most important of all skulls aren’t trying to be scary. They’re just doing their job.

Thornburgh tells the reader you’re not scared of skulls. You love all the things your skull does for you. Shout to the world, “I love my skull!”

The book concludes with a page of “Cool Skull Facts.”

“Skulls!” will appeal to kids, who will laugh at all the illustrations, and learn a lot about skulls. Maybe it will even help children feel less afraid when they see a skeleton at Halloween.

About the Author

Blair Thornburgh is the author of several books for children and teens. A graduate of the MFA program in Writing for Children and Young Adults at Hamline University, St. Paul, MN, she lives outside of Philadelphia. Visit her online at blairthornburgh.com. 

About the Illustrator

Scott Campbell has illustrated many children’s picture books, including “Zombie in Love,” by Kelly DiPucchio, “XO OX: A Love Story,” by Adam Rex, “If Dogs Run Free,” by Bob Dylan, and “Sleepy the Goodnight Buddy” by Drew Daywalt. He is the author-illustrator of “Hug Machine.” Scott lives in Los Angeles. Visit him online at scottc.com.    

'My Grandma and Me' tells story of growing up in Iran

My Grandma and Me
Written by Mina Javaherbin and Illustrated by Lindsey Yankey
Candlewick Press, 2019

Mina Javaherbin wrote "My Grandma and Me" based on her memories of growing up in Iran and her close relationship with her grandmother, who lived with her family. It is a sweet story with many details about how Mina and her grandma spent their days. The illustrations are soft and beautiful, recalling Persian rugs with their many pretty patterns.

The author writes in first person, telling how she followed her grandma everywhere. "When she swept, I swept. When she cooked, I cooked. When she prayed, I prayed like her, too."

The story tells about Iranian culture and values in a natural, easy way. Mina says she woke up at dawn with grandma when she got up for namaz, her morning prayers. She crawled up onto her grandma's back when she knelt down to pray.

They watched for the bread delivery boy together. He came on his bicycle with bread piled high in his basket. Mina and grandma lowered baskets down with ropes. The bread boy put the loaves inside, and they hauled it back up.

She played with her best friend Annette while their grandmothers talked, laughed and drank coffee. Their grandmothers knitted blankets together and watched Annette and Mina play hopscotch in the alley. They donated the blankets to her grandma's mosque and Annette's grandma's church.

Her grandma sewed chadors, Muslim women's garments, for different occasions. Mina draped them on a table to build a rocket ship. She'd tie one around her neck and fly from the moon to planets. Grandma gave her cookies and listened to her space adventures.

When she was older, she wore a chador grandma made for her and they walked together to the mosque. Her grandma prayed that Annette's grandma would go to heaven.

The next day, Annette told her that her grandma had also prayed that Mina's grandma would go to heaven.

The author concludes her story saying "I've never loved anything or anyone the way I loved my grandma. She was kind, generous, and full of love. I still want to be just like her.

This beautiful book is a nice way to teach children a little about the Muslim culture, while also sharing a story about a child's love for her grandmother.

About the Author

Mina Javaherbin has written several award-winning picture books, including "Soccer Star," illustrated by Renato Alarcao, and "Goal!" illustrated by A.G. Ford. She lives in Southern California.

About the Illustrator 

Lindsey Yankey studied illustration at the University of Kansas and is the author-illustrator of "Bluebird" and "Sun and Moon." She lives in Lawrence, KS.  

Goode rises from slavery to win patent for cabinet bed

Sweet Dreams, Sarah

Written by Vivian Kirkfield and illustrated by Chris Ewald

Creston Books, LLC, 2019

Sarah E. Goode was born into slavery, but she later built furniture and became one of the first African American women to win a U.S. patent. 

When Sarah was a slave, she dreamed of a better life. Her father was a carpenter, and she thought she could build furniture, too, one day.

After the Civil War ended and the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery, Sarah moved to Chicago with her family.

Later, she married a kind stair-builder named Archibald Goode. They started a family and rented out rooms in their house.

Sarah saved as much as she could because she wanted to open a furniture store. Finally, she and Archibald opened a store. They sold furniture that they had built.

She kept hearing her customers complain about how crowded their homes were. They worked at low-paying jobs and could afford only one-room apartments.

Sarah got the idea to make a bed that folded up when it wasn’t being used. That way families would be able to give their children their own beds.

She worked at it and worked at it, and finally built a bed that folded out of the cabinet doors of a desk: a cabinet bed.

Getting the patent wasn’t easy. The first time she applied for one, it was denied. Her idea wasn’t different enough from other similar inventions. She rewrote her application to explain how her cabinet bed was unique.

This time she won the patent: the S.E. Goode cabinet bed, awarded July 14, 1885.

Kirfield's picture book biography tells Goode's inspiring story in a simple way for young readers. Chris Ewald's full-page illustrations in warm browns bring the story to life.

About the Author

Vivian Kirkfield has written several picture books: "Passover Plate" (Holiday House); "Four Otters Toboggan: An Animal Counting Book" (Pomegranate); "Making Their Voices Heard: The Inspiring Friendship of Ella Fitzgerald and Marilyn Monroe" (Little Bee Books, January 14, 2020); and "From Here to There: Inventions That Changed the Way the World Moves" (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, fall 2020). She is a retired kindergarten teacher with a master’s degree in early childhood education. She lives in Amherst, NH.

About the Illustrator

Chris Ewald has illustrated several picture books. He also works in games and animation. He studied art at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. He lives in Austin, TX.

Little Boy Learns to Find Joy When Life Brings Change

Waiting for Chicken Smith

Written and illustrated by David Mackintosh

Candlewick Press, 2019

A little boy is at his family’s summer beach house, and he can’t wait for his friend Chicken Smith to show up, too. Every year, Chicken Smith stays in the cabin next door with his dad and his dog, Jelly.

The narrator remembers Chicken Smith throwing a tennis ball for Jelly to retrieve and riding a bicycle without brakes. His sister Mary Ann keeps calling out to him, but he ignores her because he’s waiting for Chicken Smith.

He remembers going to the lighthouse with Chicken Smith, eating sandwiches Chicken’s dad made, and looking for whales with Chicken’s binoculars. They’d swim all day and sometimes Chicken let him on his dad’s surfboard.

Last year, Chicken Smith gave him a piece of driftwood carved into a whale. So, this year, he’s bought Chicken a crazy shell at a gas station.

He notices that Chicken’s cabin looks different, all shut up tight with cobwebs in the windows. A sign on the front porch says, “Summer Rental Inquire at Shop.”

Finally, he decides to follow his sister when she calls again. They go to the lighthouse and his sister calls out, “Look! There he is!”

And for the first time, he sees a whale. He and Chicken had never found one even with binoculars.

Then he and his sister race back in time for dinner. At the cabin, they look at a whale book and make plans to hunt for shells tomorrow.

The narrator hopes Chicken Smith will be back next year, but if he’s not, he thinks he’ll give the crazy shell to Mary Ann.

The illustrations are old fashioned-looking and lovely, helping tell this story of childhood friendship, the magic of summer, and the inevitability of change.

About the Author Illustrator

                                                                                                                                                                   

David Mackintosh has worked as an illustrator, designer, and art director with some of the most celebrated names in children’s publishing. His picture book “Marshall Armstrong is New to Our School” was short-listed for the Roald Dahl Funny Prize and nominated for the Kate Greenaway Medal. “Waiting for Chicken Smith” is his first book with Candlewick Press. He lives in London.

Sweet Story Introduces Much-loved Pig Mercy of Series

A Piglet Named Mercy

Written by Kate DiCamillo and illustrated by Chris Van Dusen

Candlewick Press, 2019

Mr. and Mrs. Watson live ordinary lives in an ordinary house in an ordinary town. They are happy, but one day Mrs. Watson wishes something different would happen.

Her wish comes true when a piglet shows up at their door. Mr. and Mrs. Watson fall in love with the adorable piglet.

Their neighbors Eugenia Lincoln and Baby Lincoln see the piglet arrive. Disagreeable Eugenia doesn’t approve, but Baby is delighted and warms a bottle of milk for her.

The piglet turns out to be anything but ordinary as she leaps out of Mrs. Watson’s arms, jumps onto a chair, and swipes a piece of toast from the kitchen counter.

The Watsons are charmed by the piglet’s antics and name her Mercy because she is a wish come true.

The characters are expressive and the gouache illustrations bright, bold, and colorful.

Kids who love the Mercy Watson chapter books and their younger siblings will enjoy this picture book, a prequel to the popular series.

About the Author

Kate DiCamillo has written many books for children, including the Mercy Watson and Deckawoo Drive series. Her books, “Flora & Ulysses” and “The Tale of Despereaux,” are both Newberry Medal recipients. A former National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, she lives in Minneapolis.

About the Illustrator

Chris Van Dusen is the author-illustrator of many children’s books, including “The Circus Ship” and “Hattie & Hudson,” and the illustrator of the Mercy Watson and Deckawoo Drive series. He lives in Maine.