Happy Tuesday, kidlit friends! I cannot believe I’m saying this, but my house is once again sick with some kind of respiratory thing. I’m the only one not currently sick. Every time someone so much as breathes in my general direction, I feel like one of those carnival acts strapped to a wheel, waiting for the knife/germs to strike home. Perhaps an overdramatic analogy, but we’re on the third month here of daily illness, and I am really done. Anyway, I have some fantastic books centering Black joy to share this week. It might be the last week of Black history month, but Black history, culture, and joy should be part of our regular reading lives every month of the year.
Bookish Goods
Amanda Gorman Doll by ThimbleAndTime
Kelly Jensen shared this fantastic doll on her book fetish list featuring products celebrating Black literary luminaries, and I had to share it here too! There are also dolls of Maya Angelou, Zora Neale Hurston, and more! $68
New Releases
It’s Tummy Time by Elise Parsley (board book)
This delightful board book depicts families with newborns participating in daily activities while the baby does tummy time. My daughter despised tummy time as a baby until she was strong enough to scoot around and get into mischief. 🙂 The text is simple and repetitive: “Nap Time, Snack Time, Screen Time, Tummy Time” reads one full-page spread. The illustrations are often funny, such as one that subverts expectations by having an older sibling doing tummy time as they throw a temper tantrum. It’s a realistic portrayal of life with an infant and a fun read aloud.
Finally Seen by Kelly Yang (middle grade)
Kelly Yang’s (Front Desk) newest middle grade novel is very much a current book dealing with problems kids are facing right now. Ten-year-old Lina Gao has lived the last five years in China with her grandmother Lao Lao while her parents and little sister lived in Southern California. When Lao Lao needs to be moved to a nursing home, Lina can finally be with her parents again, but it’s not the perfect homecoming she expected. Her parents are struggling financially after pandemic woes, and her little sister speaks English so much better than Lina does. A school librarian takes Lina under her wing, and Lina finally makes a friend after vowing never to speak in school. However, when a book Lina loves is challenged at school, Lina will need to conquer her fears and speak up if she wants to stand up for what’s right.
For a more comprehensive list, check out our New Books newsletter!
Riot Recommendations
I love seeing how many children’s books centering Black joy are being published now, though there’s always room for more! I chose books from four different age categories for this list.
Curls by Ruth Foreman, illustrated by Geneva Bowers (board book)
This is the first board book in a series by Foreman and Bowers and while I enjoy all of them, I must admit this first one is still my favorite. With simple, poetic text, it celebrates Black hair as four girls with different hair types get ready. Also check out the other books in the series: Glow, Bloom, and Ours.
Song in the City by Daniel Bernstrom, illustrated by Jenin Mohammed (picture book)
I’m surprised I haven’t reviewed this book yet because it was one of my favorite picture books of 2022. It’s an intergenerational, rhythmic read aloud centering Black disabled joy. Emmalene, who is blind and uses a cane, loves listening to all the songs the city sings, but her distracted Grandma Jean doesn’t want to pause and listen. In vibrant, evocative language, Emmalene describes what she hears to her grandmother on the way to church until Grandma Jean finally stops, listens, and hears the songs.
Miles Lewis: King of the Ice by Kelly Starling Lyons, illustrated by Wayne Spencer (chapter book)
Fourth grader Miles Lewis comes from a family of skaters, so when his teacher announces the class will be taking a field trip to an ice skating rink to learn about physics, he’s excited. He knows the perfect person to ask ice skating tips from: his Nana. This is especially important after his friend R.J. bets that Miles will wipe out, and they set up a friendly challenge. However, Miles has one big worry hanging over his head: his Nana lives with Miles and his parents, but she might be moving out. This is the first book in a fantastic STEM-themed chapter book series. Check out Kelly Starling Lyons’ other children’s books too, which all center Black joy.
Link + Hud: Heroes by a Hair by Jarrett Pumphrey, Jerome Pumphrey, Releases March 7 (middle grade)
This middle grade novel has another week until it releases but I finished it recently and really wanted to share it. It entwines the comic book format with prose chapters and would be great for kids who are struggling a bit to transition into reading all-prose books. It’s about two brothers with very active, and very destructive, imaginations. When their parents hire a new babysitter in the form of the strict, gold-toothed Ms. Joyce, the boys immediately cast her as the villain in their pretend play. But is she really that villainous?
One of the first signs of spring is when the buttercups start blooming at our nearby park. I’m sure we still have several more weeks of winter left here in Nashville (though the temperatures are being extremely erratic lately), but it gives me hope that winter will soon be over, and hopefully our constant illness woes will decrease!
If you’d like to read more of my kidlit reviews, I’m on Instagram @BabyLibrarians, Twitter @AReaderlyMom, and blog irregularly at Baby Librarians. You can also read my Book Riot posts. If you’d like to drop me a line, my email is kingsbury.margaret@gmail.com.
Until next Tuesday!
Margaret Kingsbury