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Reviewed by: Ana Canino-Fluit, Elementary School Librarian Title: The Light She Feels Inside Author: Gwendolyn Wallace Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Year: 2023 Good for Grades: PK-6 Genre/Type of Book: Picture Book
Content Warnings, or things that other School Librarians should be aware of: In one page a black man is in a confrontation with two police officers. The situation is not violent but is anxiety inducing for the MC and possibly for readers Recommended for a school library: Yes Reason(s) for choosing the book: Sent to me in a box of finshed review copies by the publisher. If you were tasked by the publisher with writing a short quote for the back cover of this book, what would it be: It is a celebration of black joy and resilience and is joyfully intersectional. A fantastic read aloud for black history and women’s history month.
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Review:
This book was a warm hug, bold, beautiful and inclusive! It is a celebration of black joy and resilience and is joyfully intersectional. A fantastic read aloud for black history and women’s history month.
Maya glows with feelings of belonging, kindness, generosity and love in her community most days. Some days she feels the burning glow of hurt, fear, anger & frustration at injustice. Thankfully her feelings are not left fester or eat her up, but an encounter with a librarian helps her connect her glow with that of the ancestors, black women from history, like Ida B Wells, Nina Simone, Fannie Lou Hamer, Gwendolyn Brooks, Marsha P Johnson, June Jordan, and the Combahee River Collective who before her seen injustice and acted to help their communities, which then open learning about the stories of her own familial ancestors and what they had done. Maya shares what she has learned with friends and family and helps mobilize them to act for their communities. The book closes with mini-biographies for each of the featured historical black women mentioned in the book.
The illustrations are beautiful and seem to glow in 3-d. The book is full of people of color of every hue, with a variety of body types and gender presentation.
This book is appropriate for PK-5 libraries and any library that has a collection of picture books.
Number of party hats:
For more information about this book, see the Publishers Website
For more resources about this book, see TeachingBooks.net
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