Show the World!

by Angela Dalton, Daria Peoples (Illustrator)

Overview

A celebration of self-expression and the power of using your voice, centering Black children, and exploring the many things they can do, create, and say to make their mark.

Look around! Can you see?
The many spaces, places, and ways to
show the world all that you can be?
 
From painting, music, and slam poetry, to engineering, protesting, and photography, a young narrator journeys through her neighborhood, encouraging readers to explore all the many ways they can express themselves. A gorgeously illustrated and powerful celebration of self-expression shows children that there are so many spaces and opportunities to use their voices—and show the world exactly who they are.
 
What will you show the world?

“Thoughtful and inquisitory…Show kids the world is their oyster by giving them this thought-provoking book.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Dalton’s encouraging prose and Peoples' vivid illustrations will inspire young readers to explore various modes of self-expression and find an outlet to help them be themselves and also learn more about their community and the world. Readers of all ages will find comfort in this book.”—Booklist

“Dalton cleverly permeates the narrative with sounds, giving the text a musical and poetic quality. Peoples’s mixtures of technique and perspectives give the art a dynamism that harmonizes with the text throughout. A testament to Black excellence, this picture book will inspire readers to set no limits to their potential.”—School Library Journal

“A rousing rallying cry for young creatives.”—Publishers Weekly

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780593351390
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	04/05/2022
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	630,584
Product dimensions:	9.00(w) x 11.10(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Angela Dalton (angeladalton.com) was once a producer of video games and other creative things. Now she shares her stories with the world. She is the author of If You Look Up to the Sky, for which she won the Independent Publishers Book Award for Children’s Picture Books, and Ruby’s Reunion Day Dinner. She lives in Oakland, California, where she spends her time looking up to the sky and writing the stories the universe inspires her to share.


Daria Peoples-Riley (dariapeoples.com) is an author and illustrator of children's books. She wants her young brothers and sisters to speak life into their dreams, and show the world all of who they are, unapologetically. She is the author-illustrator of This Is It, I Got Next, and America, My Love, America, My Heart. Daria lives in Las Vegas with her family.

Editorial Reviews

11/08/2021

“What will you do.../ or say.../ or make.../ to express who you are?” In a series of questions, Dalton asks readers to consider varying forms of artistic expression. “Language that makes you feel/ something; that makes you/ think something; that makes/ you do something,” one spread reads, presenting four brown-skinned figures, one with a camera taking photos of three holding protest signs. Other spreads feature those finding their voices via mural painting, music, spoken word, cooking, and fashion, with the cameraperson capturing the action through-out. Peoples’s stylized artwork, created with oil on paper and illustration board, centers brown-skinned figures amid almost tangibly textured backgrounds. A rousing rallying cry for young creatives. Ages 4–8. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

Thoughtful and inquisitory…Show kids the world is their oyster by giving them this thought-provoking book.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Dalton’s encouraging prose and Peoples' vivid illustrations will inspire young readers to explore various modes of self-expression and find an outlet to help them be themselves and also learn more about their community and the world. Readers of all ages will find comfort in this book.”—Booklist

“Dalton cleverly permeates the narrative with sounds, giving the text a musical and poetic quality. Peoples’s mixtures of technique and perspectives give the art a dynamism that harmonizes with the text throughout. A testament to Black excellence, this picture book will inspire readers to set no limits to their potential.”—School Library Journal

“A rousing rallying cry for young creatives.”—Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

12/01/2021

K-Gr 3—A young photographer with brown skin and dark hair traverses her neighborhood and documents the exemplary art, music, and culture found in the streets, shops, and museums of her Black community. Involved in equal parts celebration and inspiration, the narrator observes the self-expression around her and asks the question of her audience: How will their impact be made? The vibrancy, richness, and importance of Black joy is central to this title and resonates in the art, music, spoken word, and activism the young narrator encounters. Dalton cleverly permeates the narrative with sounds, giving the text a musical and poetic quality. On each page spread, the vignettes are detailed with texture and dimension. Peoples's mixtures of technique and perspectives give the art a dynamism that harmonizes with the text throughout. Returning home at the end of the book, the narrator poses the question, "Is there a place where you shine? A space you fill with things that inspire you?" VERDICT A testament to Black excellence, this picture book will inspire readers to set no limits to their potential.—Sarah Simpson, Westerville P. L., OH

School Library Journal

2021-12-16
An empowering picture book encourages children to develop their own voice, style, and personality in order to make an impact in the world.

A young Black girl invites young readers to “look around” at the world and reflect on what they will “do.../ or say.../ or make... / to express who you are.” With a camera in hand, she visits various places in her neighborhood—an art gallery, a sewing studio, and a planetarium, to name a few—and observes the many ways in which kids in her community are expressing themselves. Readers see another girl painting a mural, a boy with dreadlocks spinning music at a turntable, a marching band practicing, a choir singing, a spoken word artist performing, dancers and hula-hoopers in the park, and more. “Maybe your creative space is blank... / patiently waiting for you to fill it with powerful text” reads a double-page spread showing kids making signs for—and then participating in—a street protest. Another double-page spread shows kids getting their hair styled in a salon, and the text asks “Are youthe canvas?” A current of lyricism runs through Dalton’s narrative, which is thoughtful and inquisitory (“Is there a place where you shine? A space you / fill with all the things that inspire you?”), reminding kids to take their time and reflect carefully as they figure out who they are and what they want to share with the world. Peoples’ artwork, rendered using oil on paper and illustration board, is reminiscent of child art and fittingly draws attention to itself as a created work through the use of painterly textures. All characters are Black.

Show kids the world is their oyster by giving them this thought-provoking book. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews