Keep Your Head Up

by Aliya King Neil, Charly Palmer (Illustrator)

Overview

Teach little ones that it’s okay to have a bad day in this brightly illustrated, gently affirmative picture book about keeping our heads up and letting things pass.

When a child wakes up late one day, it’s only the first in a series of things to go terribly awry. But the people around them show them that what’s important is being kind to yourself and getting through rough days. Because, after all, tomorrow is a fresh start.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781534480407
Publisher:	Denene Millner Books/Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	09/28/2021
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	629,046
Product dimensions:	8.70(w) x 11.20(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	AD530L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Aliya King Neil is an award-winning journalist and the author and coauthor of books for teens and adults. Her work has appeared in Vibe, Giant, Uptown, Essence, King, Ms., Us Weekly, and Teen People, among others. Keep Your Head Up is her first picture book. Visit her at AliyaSKing.com.

Charly Palmer, a graduate of the American Academy of Art, is a nationally recognized fine artist whose work is in private and public collections, including those of McDonald’s Corporation, the Coca-Cola Company, and Vanderbilt University. His illustrative work for Mama Africa! earned him the 2018 Coretta Scott King Illustrator of the Year award. Palmer’s art is inspired by his children and grandchildren. He lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

Editorial Reviews

★ 2021-07-14
D wakes up late, no one greets him, and his sister has used his favorite toothpaste to make slime. Will D’s day get any better?

D, a young Black boy, tries to make the best of a bad day. Despite the less-than-stellar start to his morning, he manages to keep his head up and try to turn it around. However, once at school, he learns that he’s missing his gym uniform and won’t be able to participate. As hard as he tries to fight it, his “bad day face slips out.” As the day progresses, D’s “bad day face” becomes his “scrunchy face,” and eventually he has a full-on “meltdown”—which lands him in the principal’s office. There, D talks with Miss King, who likens him to a fragile vinyl LP, an analogy that is both fitting and affirming. D’s parents come to pick him up from school, which doesn’t help his mood, but he makes the decision to keep his head up anyway. D’s mental state is represented in Palmer’s painterly illustrations by a cloud that floats above his head. As the day wears on, the cloud grows bigger and darker, the meltdown page rendered as nothing but vigorous black brush strokes. Readers will recognize their own feelings of anger, disappointment, and loss of control through Neil’s empathetic text, laden with sensory metaphors. D’s school is majority Black, and his teachers and Miss King are Black as well. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

An excellent book for teaching children the importance of showing themselves grace and kindness. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews