What Are Words, Really?

by Alexi Lubomirski, Carlos Aponte (Illustrator)

Overview

A renowned photographer and a Pura Belpré Honor–winning illustrator join forces for a playful and stylish picture book that’s destined to make the world a better place, one word at a time.

Perfectly pitched to the youngest child, Alexi Lubomirski’s whimsical text is a gentle reminder that words have power—the power to hurt or to heal, to make someone feel small or feel tall. Carlos Aponte’s buoyant illustrations, in dazzling primary colors and bold black line, pair with a dynamic text design to create a visual symphony. An eye-catching appeal to our better natures, this inspired meditation on the purpose and power of words encourages children to choose them well—and use them wisely—to spread kindness, joy, and love.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781536219807
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	09/27/2022
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	1,075,078
Product dimensions:	10.50(w) x 9.90(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Alexi Lubomirski is the author of the parenting book Princely Advice for a Happy Life and the picture book Thank You for My Dreams. He is a world-renowned fashion and celebrity photographer who has worked for Vogue, Elle, and Harper’s Bazaar, among other major magazines, and who shot the official engagement and wedding portraits for Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. He lives in New York.

Carlos Aponte is the author-illustrator of the Pura Belpré Illustrator Award Honor Book Across the Bay. His artwork has appeared in numerous publications, including the New Yorker, the Washington Post, the New York Times, Elle, and Esquire. He is a faculty member at the Fashion Institute of Technology and lives in New Jersey.

Editorial Reviews

An eminently useful title for sparking conversations with children about how positive self-talk can transform one’s perspective and how kind words can empower others. It will also invite reflections on the need for sensitivity and kindness in communicating with others. . . . Words and pictures really worth sharing.
—Kirkus Reviews

Text and illustration are inseparable in this book that encourages readers to think about the power of words—the ones they think to themselves, and the ones they say out loud. . . . The limited color palette—primary colors plus black and white—is bold and effective, and there are plenty of interesting visuals woven throughout.
—School Library Journal

Offers a reminder of how words can bring you up or down—especially two four letter words: love and hate. Akin to a visual pep talk, this book will complement SEL topics in libraries or classrooms, whether the message reinforced is to build confidence in oneself or to be kind to others. Award-winning illustrator Carlos Aponte uses bold graphics in primary colors to illustrate the message.
—School Library Connection

This bold, bright ode to the power of words blends colorful art with the words themselves. The message is that words matter, and choosing the best and kindest ones makes a difference. . . . Using kind words for yourself and others is ‘like a magical spell’ that brings light to the world — and this sunny book encourages readers to do just that.
—The Virginian Pilot

From the Publisher

10/28/2022

K-Gr 2—Text and illustration are inseparable in this book that encourages readers to think about the power of words—the ones they think to themselves, and the ones they say out loud. Lubomirski urges the audience to consider the impact of two four-letter words, love and hate, on plants as well as people, and to "try an experiment, where you change what you say/ and see if your life gets better in a wonderful way." Unfortunately, the rhyme scheme is clunky in several places, making it frustrating to read out loud. The limited color palette—primary colors plus black and white—is bold and effective, and there are plenty of interesting visuals woven throughout, such as a soccer ball for the "o" in "grow" and a whale tail for the "t" in "hate." VERDICT Words do indeed have power, but uneven execution mars the message here; consider for SEL collections.—Jenny Arch

School Library Journal

2022-05-25
A reflection on the power of words.

Flying in the face of the old adage “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me,” the text acknowledges the harm that hateful, cruel words can cause. It also affirms the power of kind and loving words to heal and uplift. These messages aren’t delivered in a story but in clear, rhymed verses. Accompanying illustrations are boldly colored with sketchy depictions of people interacting with each other in positive and negative scenarios, using a style that is somewhat reminiscent of Ed Emberley’s or Oliver Jeffers’ picture-book illustrations. While the book focuses on the power of language, art paradoxically does much of the heavy lifting when it comes to communicating the emotions of a scene. In what some may regard as a narrative misstep, a key spread highlights the potential for words to help or harm a plant’s growth, perhaps distracting from the centrality of humans to this book’s aims. Nevertheless, this will be an eminently useful title for sparking conversations with children about how positive self-talk can transform one’s perspective and how kind words can empower others. It will also invite reflections on the need for sensitivity and kindness in communicating with others. Characters vary in skin tone (most are depicted in intense blues, reds, or yellows, like the rest of the art) and ability. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Words and pictures really worth sharing. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews