necessaryfictions's reviews
243 reviews

Exquisite: The Poetry and Life of Gwendolyn Brooks by Suzanne Slade

showing kids the beauty of reading really changes lives!! you gotta read to your kids. you simply must.

this was very sweetly written, and the painting is gorg. i love how gwendolyns love of writing blooming is depicted, sheets of poems hung up like clothes, spilling into a sunset-cloud sky, a swelling sea of poem after poem in her childhood room... poetry comes out of life!

The Book Itch: Freedom, Truth & Harlem's Greatest Bookstore by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson

we push the cart calling, "knowledge is power. you need it every hour. read a book!" dad made that up just like he made up the sign over the store. he plays with words until they say what he feels. i guess that makes him a poet.

i love the thick brushstroke dreamy and brown-toned painting, really fitting for the tone. i wish this bookstore was still here! 

Go, Dog. Go! by P.D. Eastman

4.25

a lot of early readers want this book's nachos and i don't blame them at all. introductions to colors and directions and spatial concepts and time and cause and effect and the basics of conversation! very well crafted and fun to read and look at

Hunter and His Dog by Brian Wildsmith

ridiculously pretty. good dog!

Light in the Darkness: A Story about How Slaves Learned in Secret by Lesa Cline-Ransome, James E. Ransome

4.25

moving, and quietly devastating. the shadows in the illustrations are so well utilized. i'm thankful for people like morris - heroes for literacy whose footsteps i try my best to walk in

The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles

i am glad to have known this name all my life. god bless the brave and pure souls of our black youth always

Hope Is an Arrow: The Story of Lebanese-American Poet Khalil Gibran by Cory McCarthy

hopeful informative

4.25

there once was a boy shot from a bow like an arrow. strong and straight, he flew cross th world, connecting many people with the power of his words. but not right away.

beautiful in words and illustration! (on illustration, the spread of the family emigrating to america across the sea was stunning.. the layers of the water!); a moving, compassionate tribute. gibran's poetry was woven throughout wonderfully, and the backmatter explaining the choices in relation to his life were great.

My Footprints by Bao Phi

the creatures and message of this are lovely :) i loved reading how thuy's moms navigated this discussion. and trans subtext !! love the author's note and creature glossary in the backmatter as well

Jacob's New Dress by Ian Hoffman, Sarah Hoffman

4.75

"there are all sorts of ways to be a boy," she said. "right?"

i loved how the character interactions in this were written! the art is so detailed and perfect for the tone of this. on the spread where jacob first goes to school with the towel dress-thing he makes i stopped to just admire the tenderness and detail in the classroom - the art on the walls, the spaces for toys. the bookshelves. lovely! jacob and emily coincidentally coming into class with the same colors in their dresses was so cute.

jacob sprinted across the playground, his dress spreading out like wings.

The Juneteenth Story: Celebrating the End of Slavery in the United States by Alliah L. Agostini, Sawyer Cloud

4.25

too dense for a read-aloud, but an an excellent primer of the history of the day. centering black texans, discussing complex feelings on the holiday for different black folks, not shying away from the realities of the matter, but still digestible and appropriate for children. beautiful and varied depictions of black people in the illustrations! one of the last pages talked about black lives matters protests in 2020 and it was cool to see masks drawn on people as well- first time i've seen the COVID pandemic alluded to in a picture book !