Review of Signs of Hope

The Revolutionary Art of Sister Corita Kent

A TRUE TALE WITH

A CHERRY ON TOP

Abrams Books for Young Readers

(pub. 4.16.2024)

40 pages

Ages 4 - 8

Author: Mara Rockliff

   Illustrator: Melissa Sweet

Character: Sister Corita Kent

Overview:

" Sister Corita Kent, the 'pop art nun,' burst onto the 1960s art scene with splashes of color and ad slogans transformed into messages of love, hope, peace, and justice. The art world would never be the same—and neither would the young people whose lives she changed.

Join Corita’s students as they learn how to look at the world around them through an artist’s eyes. With Corita, work is play, imagination means adventure, and there is no line between life and art."

Tantalizing taste:

"She has taught us how to SEE

and play

and protest joyfully,

to make art all our lives

and to make our lives ART.

Now it's our turn to share what we have learned.

'She taught that art is not something apart from life and living.'

'Everything was a joy to her ... and that's catching.'

'I didn't know that I could see the way that an artist sees.'

'There aren't many lessons more valuable than to pay attention.'

'She didn't teach us how to draw or paint so much as she taught us to care.'"

And something more: The author, Mara Rockliff, shares in the Author's Note: "By the late 1960s, America was in turmoil, with protests about racism and the ongoing war in Vietnam... Sister Corita admired the courage of the Catonsville Nine [a group of Catholic activists arrested for an act of civil disobedience against what many considered an immoral war] and tried to emulate it in her art with prints that juxtaposed words and images in unexpected ways to make viewers think more deeply about world events."

Review of Planting Hope

A Portrait of Photographer

Sebastião Salgado

A TRUE TALE WITH A CHERRY ON TOP

Atheneum Books for Young Readers

(Simon & Schuster)

(pub. 3.5.2024)

48 pages

Ages 6 - 9

Author: Philip Hoelzel

   Illustrator: Renato Alarcão

Character: Sebastião Salgado

Overview:

" As a young boy, Sebastião Salgado loved exploring his parents’ farm in the forests of Brazil, always dreaming of what might lie beyond his view. When he went away to school, he met Lélia, who showed him how to use a camera. As he looked through the lens, Sebastião realized he could use photography to capture how the world fits together.

Sebastião used his pictures to tell the stories of people who might not otherwise be seen. But after witnessing too much destruction, he put away his camera and returned to his childhood home. The land was in ruins.

So Sebastião and Lélia decided to rebuild the rainforest and photograph the beauty of the world to save it. Through art and activism, they would show that everyone was responsible for caring for the planet and that hope endures if we take action."

Tantalizing taste:

"But when Sebastião and Lélia arrived [back at his childhood farm in Brazil], the land was in ruins.

Brazilwood, ironwood, and peroba trees that held water in the soil and provided shade on hot, sunny days had been cut down for lumber. The soft forest soils were wearing away. The ocelots, anteaters, and colorful birds were gone...

Lélia cried to see the sickness of the land.

Sebastião wept over the destruction of his childhood paradise.

Then Lelia thought of something that gave her hope...'Let's rebuild your beautiful world. Let's plant the rainforest that was here before'."

And something more: The section, Instituto Terra - The Environmental Education Center in Aimorés, Brazil explains: "When Sebastião and Lélia created Instituto Terra, their first project was to replant about seven hundred soccer fields' worth of native trees on Sebastião's boyhood farm... Today they have grown more than four million seedlings. Many of these seedlings have been used on projects that have helped save seventeen thousand acres of land (approximately eleven thousand soccer fields) in the Rio Doce river valley near Sebastião's boyhood home."

Review of It Belongs to the World

Frederick Banting and

the Discovery of Insulin

A TRUE TALE WITH

A CHERRY ON TOP

Clarion Books

(Harper Collins)

(pub. 10.29.2024)

48 pages

Ages 4 - 8

Author: Lisa Katzenberger

   Illustrator: Janina Gaudin

(aka Miss Diabetes)

Character: Frederick Bunting

Overview:

" Frederick Banting was a shy boy who loved to care for the animals on his family farm. When they were sick, he searched for ways to make them better.

When Frederick grew up, he remained curious about how to treat and cure illnesses, so he became a doctor and a teacher. After teaching his medical students about diabetes, his curiosity led him to discover insulin, which saves millions of lives worldwide today. Frederick could have gotten rich from his discovery, but he sold his formula for only a dollar, saying, 'Insulin does not belong to me. It belongs to the world.'"

Tantalizing taste:

"However, the results were not consistent. Sometimes the medicine was too strong, sometimes it was too weak.

Yet Frederick pushed on.

He hired chemist James Collier to help clean the pancreatic extract. Over and over, day afte day, they performed their experiments. Analyzing and testing, testing and analyzing."

And something more: Lisa Katzenberger in the Author's Note explains: "My family has a special connection to Dr Banting. My son Ryan was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when he was seven years old...While Ryan's chronic illness will be with him all his life, he can do anythnikg other kids can do... While there is currently no cure for diabetes, we hope that Ryan will see one in his lifetime. In the meantime, our family is very grateful to Dr. Frederick Banting and his team for the discovery of insulin."