The Knowing

by Ani DiFranco, Julia Mathew (Illustrator)

Overview

From the Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter, political activist, and feminist icon comes a picture book with purpose, with heart, and with words that sing.

Singer-songwriter, activist, feminist, and best-selling author Ani Di Franco has written something for her youngest audience: a picture book that invites young readers to ponder the distinction between outer forms of identity and the inner light of consciousness that is even more central to our being. In her signature folk style, Di Franco weaves a story that incorporates themes of individual power and collective responsibility. First-time illustrator Julia Mathew paints universal scenes of childhood in her family’s native India, glowing with honesty and love. Designed to be read aloud or sung, and pored over, this picture book is rich with meaningful text, poignant illustrations, and a unique message that will resonate with all.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780593383759
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	03/07/2023
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	445,230
Product dimensions:	10.10(w) x 11.20(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	3 - 5 Years

About the Author

Ani Di Franco is a Grammy-winning musical artist and feminist icon recognized for her poetry and songwriting, which pierces social convention and challenges the status quo, as well as for her social activism and political engagement. One of the first artists to create her own record label in 1990, she has sold over 5.5 million albums through her own Righteous Babe Records, and recently released her twenty-second studio album. While she has been known as the "Little Folksinger," her music has embraced many genres and collaborators ranging from Pete Seeger to Maceo Parker to Chuck D to Prince. She lives in New Orleans with her family.

Julia Mathew is a designer and artist based in Toronto. She specializes in bringing creative strategy and mixed media together in her work. Julia first started drawing at a young age, using mediums such as phone books and bedroom walls to express herself artistically, driving her immigrant apartment-renting parents mad. She has since evolved and has found a passion in bringing marginalized voices to the forefront of her work. Julia’s work touches on subjects of diaspora culture, love, identity politics, and cultural imposter syndrome – exploring complex identities through unconventional and experimental mixed media.

Editorial Reviews

01/30/2023

DiFranco’s debut picture book offers up a rhyming reverie on selfhood and collective consciousness framed as “The Knowing.” Loosely wrought watercolor, colored pencil, and charcoal pictures by Mathew, also making her debut, show a young narrator, who reads as of South Asian heritage, enjoying the simple pleasures of daily life: a hair-braiding session with a loving adult, time with a book under a favorite weathered blanket, and playtime with friends. But when the narrator catches a glimpse of themself in a mirror or in water, their reflection is shown surrounded by rays of light, suggesting that something bigger and more wonderful lies beneath the surface. Beyond that which can be seen or easily experienced (e.g., the “color/ to my hair/ my skin/ my eyes”) is something that exists “underneath all that I know,” and as the child engages in everyday activities—gazing into the sky, plucking a ripe mango—they contemplate that concept as being at one with a unifying force. Some readers may find more enigma than inspiration in this heady, feelings-oriented text, but its conceit is presented with an genuine openheartedness that should both intrigue and reassure. Ages 3–5. Author’s agent: Sarah Lazin, Aevitas Creative Management. Illustrator’s agent: Andrea Morrison, Writers House. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

The interconnectedness of humanity shines throughout this affirming picture book from singer/songwriter DiFranco....A sweet, lyrical book perfect for bedtime sharing.” –Kirkus


"A book that is well worth revisiting, with a comforting tone to the whole project that speaks to love and connection, with others and with your own personhood in the world." –The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books. 


“Di Franco’s debut picture book offers up a rhyming reverie on selfhood and collective consciousness....presented with an genuine openheartedness that should both intrigue and reassure.” –Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

2023-01-12
The interconnectedness of humanity shines throughout this affirming picture book from singer/songwriter Di Franco.

An unnamed young character sits patiently while their mother plaits their long hair; the child describes in rhyming couplets their visible traits, such as their hair, skin, and eyes, all warm shades of tan and brown like those of their family. But the narrator is more than how they look—beneath the surface is something they call “The Knowing.” The child goes on to share more about their life, from charming details like their slightly torn favorite blanket to the games they play with friends. All the while the narrator tries their best to explain that The Knowing is a common element that draws us all together. Though the concept of The Knowing may be a bit subtle and cerebral for the intended audience, the poetic beauty of Di Franco’s writing more than makes up for that potential criticism. The message is lovely and delivered gently, and the author makes a familiar theme—the focus on inner life—feel fresh and new. The protagonist and their family present as South Asian in Mathew’s soft, tender watercolor, colored pencil, and charcoal illustrations. Glowing with the gentle love of the main character’s friends, family, community, and self, the artwork beams with assuredness—the embodiment of Di Franco’s words. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A sweet, lyrical book perfect for bedtime sharing. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews