★ 01/22/2024
“How do you tell a story?” begins this thoughtful tribute to writer Toni Morrison (1931–2019), born Chloe Ardelia Wofford. Starting with Morrison’s family’s move north as part of the Great Migration, Boston Weatherford (Kin) highlights the child’s listening—“to your mother’s ghost stories/ and your grandfather’s violin”—as key to her learning the art of storytelling. The only Black child in her first grade class, and the only student who can read, she devours books at home “like Sunday supper,” while learning to “listen to your surroundings”—including, due to racism and financial precarity, “the packing and unpacking/ of your family’s possessions.” As she matures, she studies English literature, then becomes a college professor, the first Black senior editor in publishing, a Pulitzer and Nobel Prize–winning writer—and, additionally, “a bridge” listening “to the silence for voices/ that have been muted far too long.” Attending closely observed second-person text that puts the reader in Morrison’s shoes, debut artist Tahir Johnson combines media, including paint and collage, lending textured depth to portraits of a creator whose stories “get under our skin, next to our hearts, and inside our souls.” An author’s note and timeline conclude. Ages 4–8. (Apr.) ■
Thoughtful. Attending closely observed second-person text that puts the reader in Morrison’s shoes, debut artist Tahir Johnson combines media, including paint and collage, lending textured depth to portraits of a creator whose stories ‘get under our skin, next to our hearts, and inside our souls.’” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Weatherford skillfully weaves together the various aspects of the writer’s life in a lyrical account that flows and reveals her rich contributions. Weatherford emphasizes the role of listening, grounding Morrison in her family and community. Making wonderful use of collage, Thompson’s evocative paintings enhance the text, beginning with a striking cover image. Transcendent and deeply resonant.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“Both the reverent art and the text provide an intimate glimpse into Morrison’s remarkable life story.” — Horn Book (starred review)
“This combination of vibrant images with compelling text gives readers a visceral experience. In addition to being a useful mentor text on the second-person voice, this is an excellent addition to biography collections and displays highlighting Black and Women’s History months.” — School Library Journal
“An excellent book to read to younger children. Weatherford's narrative and Thompson's works also importantly put Morrison's life and work in context of her times. Public and school libraries will want to have this work in their collections.” — Booklist
“A solid entry point into the how and why of Morrison’s storytelling, a fitting crown that encourages readers to seek out more of Morrison’s uplifting complexity.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
05/01/2024
Gr 1–5—Renowned author Toni Morrison is celebrated in the latest offering from Weatherford. The opening line, "How do you tell a story?" is answered in Weatherford's signature style, weaving together events from Morrison's remarkable personal and professional life in a series of poetic verses. From her struggles as a Black woman coming to adulthood in the 1950s to her triumphant successes—becoming a prolific author, the first Black senior editor at a major publishing house, a Princeton professor, and winning both a Pulitzer and a Nobel prize—Morrison's life is set against a backdrop of stunning, vividly colored illustrations created with paint, collage, and stencils. This combination of vibrant images with compelling text, told in second-person narrative throughout, gives readers a visceral experience often missing from biographies written for children. The pacing is skewed; on some pages the text is confined to a short paragraph, while on others it fills almost all of the available space. However, the strength of the writing and the outstanding illustrations make up for this. Back matter includes an author's note, bibliography, and time line, which includes historical events not mentioned in the text. VERDICT In addition to being a useful mentor text on the second-person voice, this is an excellent addition to biography collections and displays highlighting Black and Women's History months.—Sue Morgan
★ 2024-01-20
Family stories and a love of learning were seeds planted in the child who would become one of the world’s most important writers.
Born in 1931, in Lorain, Ohio, Chloe Ardelia Wofford grew up listening to her mother’s singing and stories and her grandfather’s violin. The musicality and narratives remained with her, as did a love of language. She started to read early, the only child in her first grade class to do so. She continued to listen to and absorb the world around her, developing skills that eventually sent her to Howard University. There she adopted the name Toni as she studied English literature and drama; she also met Harold Morrison, whom she would later marry. She witnessed firsthand the racism that existed in the nation’s capital. As a professor, then as an editor, she promoted neglected works of Black writers. While managing motherhood and a career, she began to craft her own novels and built a unique body of work that captured the attention of the world; in 1993, she won the Nobel Prize in Literature—“the first Black woman so honored.” Writing in second person and addressing Morrison herself, Weatherford skillfully weaves together the various aspects of the writer’s life in a lyrical account that flows and reveals her rich contributions. Weatherford emphasizes the role of listening, grounding Morrison in her family and community. Making wonderful use of collage, Thompson’s evocative paintings enhance the text, beginning with a striking cover image.
Transcendent and deeply resonant. (author’s note, timeline, bibliography) (Picture-book biography. 4-8)
