Lyon has given today's readers a stirring story about yesterdays.
"Folk songs are alive," states Lyon in her author's note, and none is more so than "Which Side Are You On?"
The song, based on a hymn tune and lyrics, rose up from coal miners' strikes in Harlan County, Ky., in the 1930s. Narrated in the first person by a miner's son, this plainspoken account tells of the physical threat to the Reese family when their father is chased from town and the family comes under attack by Sheriff J.H. Blair's hired and armed thugs. Interspersed with the narration are the words of the song. Cardinale's digitally colored scratchboard art is dynamic and presents a visual reality that strengthens the history of the song and the people who sang it. The author's note adds a concise history of unions, laborers' demands for fair wages, safe conditions and an end of servitude to mine owners. Her explanation of the folk process is clear and shows how words and perceptions change over time. The book will be of great use in explaining U.S. labor history and development of workers' rights. Given that many of the same conditions exist today, only changed by mechanization, the music and lyrics included may well find use in the current generation.
Lyon has given today's readers a stirring story about yesterdays. (bibliography, websites) (Informational picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-933693-96-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Cinco Puntos Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2011
Potent and deeply moving.
Acclaimed artist Smith honors Cooke’s legendary song with 1960s-inspired art.
A Black child spies a camera floating on a plank in the river near the shack where he lives, and when he grows up and migrates to a city, he brings the camera with him. Paired with lyrics from Cooke’s song—long considered a Civil Rights Movement anthem—scenes of urban life follow: signs proclaiming segregation, the funeral of Medgar Evers (an activist murdered in 1963 Mississippi), Lyndon Johnson signing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law as Martin Luther King Jr. looks on, people gathering for the March on Washington, a re-creation of a photo depicting Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali sitting at a lunch counter, and other milestones in the fight for racial justice. The man with the camera is present at many of these moments; a touching final spread portrays a Black child looking through photographs of those very scenes. Smith’s signature painting style lends energy to the pages with formidable linework, superb use of darkness and light, and strong compositions, inviting readers to linger, parse the images, and discuss what’s going on. Less a read-aloud and more a window into history, this work offers a rich opportunity to introduce the topic to young people through art, music, personalities, events, and emotions, over multiple exposures. Detailed backmatter supports comprehension.
Potent and deeply moving. (note from the estate of Sam Cooke, illustrator’s note, featured historical events and figures, QR code linking to a recording of “A Change Is Gonna Come”) (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2025
ISBN: 9781499816150
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Little Bee Books
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2025
PROFILES
Uplifting.
Clark-Robinson celebrates the ways in which women have opened doors for the girls and women coming after them.
Two women, one elderly and one younger, sit a girl down with tea and photographs to tell her stories of how “our mothers and all those who’ve gone before, / paved a freer path and opened a wider door.” The walls of this Black family’s home are covered in framed photographs of diverse historical and contemporary women who made their marks in the worlds of art, sports, politics, and more. As the women encourage the girl to “speak [the] names” of those who came before and recognize that they stand on the shoulders of those women, the art transitions from their home to full spreads showing the heroes in action. Toward the end, as the text repeats praise for the women leaders, the art shows the family framing a photograph of themselves and hanging it on the wall, placing them in the line of strong women as the question is posed to the girl: “Who will stand on YOURS?” Many of the icons in the images will be recognizable to informed readers, overlaying the text’s general message onto specific examples of excellence. Backmatter provides a sentence introducing each figure beneath her portrait, offering an opportunity for readers to “speak their names.” Though perhaps overly hopeful in its depiction of women’s unity across racial lines, this book achieves the effect of an intergenerational embrace. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-16-inch double-page spreads viewed at 22.2% of actual size.)
Uplifting. (author’s note, illustrator’s note) (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-338-35800-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Orchard/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
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