 |
Reviewed by: Ana Canino-Fluit, Elementary School Librarian Title: How This Book Got Red
Author: Margaret Chiu Greanias Illustrator: Melissa Iwai
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Year: 2023 Good for Grades: PK-6 Genre/Type of Book: Fantasy/Animal Stories
Content Warnings, or things that other School Librarians should be aware of: Allegory about representation
Recommended for a school library: Yes Reason(s) for choosing the book: Received from the publisher as part of a finshed copies review box
If you were tasked by the publisher with writing a short quote for the back cover of this book, what would it be:
A gentle and accessible book on the often sensitive topic of representation in lit, How This Book Got Red is a great conversation starter and engaging story in its own right.
|
Review:
Two pandas, a Red panda and Giant Panda try to read a book about Pandas together only to be deeply disappointed that the book only features Giant Pandas, as do most books about Pandas. Feeling excluded and invisible, Red decides to write his own book about Red Panda only to become frustrated and disillusioned when looking at the lack of representation in other books. Red then gives up and throws his book away. Red tries to a variety of ways to deal with their feeling before running into a growing group of Pandas, both red and giant, who have found Red’s book and are loving it. They express disappointment about how it isn’t finished. Red is shocked and leaves encouraged after hearing from all the pandas how much the book means to them. Red returns to writing the book and the book closes with Red not only having their book published but having inspired many others to write their own books. The illustrations are lovely, able to communicate a wide range of emotions on the faces of and bodies of the main characters, with lots of small details drawn into the backgrounds and providing great contrast between the book within a book and the real book.
This picture book's central theme is the importance of representation. It would be a good book for kids of all ages to engage with in discussion about inclusion and diversity. My only qualm about the book is how by featuring talking animals instead of racialized and marginalized peoples it will contribute to the gap in representation, where there are more books about talking animals than those featuring children of color published on any given year. The book is however written and illustrated by two women of Asian descent and at least provide their voice to the topic of representation.
Number of party hats:
Find more information about this book on the publisher's website.