Rafael Lopez (1)

An intergenerational family story of freedom.

A girl with a big, curly Afro and her little brother, both light brown–skinned, live in a high-rise city apartment building. Because of stormy summer weather, they must stay inside. As a remedy for boredom and bickering, their grandmother advises them to “use those beautiful and brilliant minds of yours.” And they do, throughout all four seasons of the year. Colorful butterflies and a vibrant little bird that often appear flying around the show more siblings represent their freedom, which is only ever as far away as an open book or the doorways of their imaginations. López illustrates the inside of the family’s apartment with drab, muted colors that emphasize the children’s confinement. In contrast, the outdoor scenes, illustrated primarily in pastels, exude luminosity and convey the youngsters’ exuberance. Rather than being selfish with their ability to fly, the sister and brother share it with the neighborhood kids. The protagonist/narrator shares that her grandmother learned to fly from “the people who came before,” who were “brought here on huge ships, / their wrists and ankles cuffed in iron.” This recalls Virginia Hamilton’s legend of The People Who Could Fly (1985), referenced by López in one illustration and discussed by Woodson in her author’s note. Some readers will notice an intertextual reference to the pair’s previous title, The Day You Begin (2018). The ebullient mixed-media artwork explodes with color and extends the richness of the text. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

An uplifting story that will inspire kids, especially brown girls and boys, to dream. (Picture book. 4-8) show less

An intergenerational family story of freedom.

A girl with a big, curly Afro and her little brother, both light brown–skinned, live in a high-rise city apartment building. Because of stormy summer weather, they must stay inside. As a remedy for boredom and bickering, their grandmother advises them to “use those beautiful and brilliant minds of yours.” And they do, throughout all four seasons of the year. Colorful butterflies and a vibrant little bird that often appear flying around the show more siblings represent their freedom, which is only ever as far away as an open book or the doorways of their imaginations. López illustrates the inside of the family’s apartment with drab, muted colors that emphasize the children’s confinement. In contrast, the outdoor scenes, illustrated primarily in pastels, exude luminosity and convey the youngsters’ exuberance. Rather than being selfish with their ability to fly, the sister and brother share it with the neighborhood kids. The protagonist/narrator shares that her grandmother learned to fly from “the people who came before,” who were “brought here on huge ships, / their wrists and ankles cuffed in iron.” This recalls Virginia Hamilton’s legend of The People Who Could Fly (1985), referenced by López in one illustration and discussed by Woodson in her author’s note. Some readers will notice an intertextual reference to the pair’s previous title, The Day You Begin (2018). The ebullient mixed-media artwork explodes with color and extends the richness of the text. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

An uplifting story that will inspire kids, especially brown girls and boys, to dream. (Picture book. 4-8) show less

Author/artist Rafael Lopez uses the classic American spiritual, "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" as the starting point for this lovely new picture-book, offering a charming visual depiction of the world's diverse children, all working and playing together. His message, that we've all collectively got the world in our hands, jumps off of every page...

I found We've Got the Whole World in Our Hands just beautiful, from a visual perspective, and loved the artwork on every single page. show more There were moments when I thought the text stumbled a bit - the refrain, "We've got you and you've got me in our hands," doesn't quite work, with the distracting disconnect between the first personal plural in the first part, and the first person singular in the second - but otherwise this adaptation reads quite well. I did wish that Lopez had mentioned, in his brief afterword, that many believe the song to have been written by Obie Edwin Philpot. I also found it odd that he described the essential message of the song as being one of "unity," when the nature of God's all-encompassing love seems like the central idea of the original. Perhaps some people see that love as a form of unity. Leaving those issues aside, I appreciated the back matter, which includes the musical notation for the song. Recommended to fans of Rafael Lopez' artwork, and to anyone looking for picture-book revisions of this well-loved song. show less

In Just Ask, United States Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor celebrates the different abilities kids (and people of all ages) have. Using her own experience as a child who was diagnosed with diabetes, Justice Sotomayor writes about children with all sorts of challenges--and looks at the special powers those kids have as well. As the kids work together to build a community garden, asking questions of each other along the way, this book encourages readers to do the same: When we come show more across someone who is different from us but we're not sure why, all we have to do is Just Ask. show less