The 41st board book in our collection ultimately underwhelms.
This Little Trailblazer: A Girl Power Primer by Joan Holub, illustrated by Daniel Roode.
Little Simon, Simon and Schuster, New York, 2017.
Nonfiction board book, 24 pages.
Lexile: not leveled
AR Reader: 4.6 (worth 0.5 points) .
A board book about ten empowering women’s lives.
This Little Trailblazer: A Girl Power Primer by Joan Holub, illustrated by Daniel Roode.
This has been one of the most difficult board books for me to review. For many I have a fairly strong opinion, or at least one of our children does, so there is a bit of a guideline. If this was one of our first board books, I might have liked it better. But this is our 41st board book, and the general reaction of our family has been indifference.
Our thirteenth board book, this simple biography of Rosa Parks proved more engaging and interesting than expected.
The Story of Rosa Parks by Patricia A. Pingry, illustrated by Steven Walker.
WorthyKids/Ideals, Nashville, Tennessee, 2007.
Board book biography, 26 pages.
This deceptively simple biography of Rosa Parks covers all the major events in her life in a manner appropriate for even the youngest children.
The Story of Rosa Parks by Patricia A. Pingry, illustrated by Steven Walker.
Honestly, I was surprised by this book. We have several of Pingry’s religious board books, and they are solid additions to the church rotation but not especially moving.
If we teach kids about Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr. as toddlers, then by grade school they should be ready to learn about Lonnie Johnson, Fannie Lou Hammer, Dave the Potter, Mae Jemison, and more. Then in middle school they can move on to studying people like Claudette Colvin, Misty Copeland, Ida B. Wells, and John Lewis. That’s the ideal, right?
This book was purchased for Baby. I did not expect the older kids to show any interest in it. However, N picked it up under the guise of “reading to baby” and kept looking at it even after Baby went off for a diaper change. My new reader wanted to use it for reading practice. The kids sat through more than one reading of it.
A simple challenge to take this year’s Black History Month beyond the basics.
So let’s talk about something. America has a month devoted to African-American history (February). Most teachers and school districts these days fall in line with this and do at least a few activities relating to the theme.
Colorful Book Reviews 