Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

Guess what, folks–I actually managed to read one of this year’s Newberys already! Of course, it was a picture book…anyway. Kwame Alexander’s The Undefeated won multiple awards this year, some of them due to Kadir Nelson’s illustrations. After reading it, I found the illustrations impressively intentional AND accurate, which is all I can really say; I am not remotely qualified to judge art on solely artistic merits. (That would be my mother. And she does.) As for the text, it depends. As a “picture book for children”, I’m honestly not sure it works. The text is simple and sparse, and you have to read the fine print in the back to truly appreciate the illustrations–not a good combination for the probable audience. As a poem, however–which is what Alexander calls it in the afterward–it is poignant, it is aptly illustrated, and it is bold. I was impressed by it as poetry, even if its particular focus on black America made me feel vaguely as if it wasn’t meant for me. Which in turn made me wonder how men feel when they see books focusing on accomplishments by women, and yet I’m a big fan of those, because for so long women’s accomplishments were under-reported, under-credited, and underestimated. It’s never a bad thing when a book makes you think, right? Ultimately, however, and not at all surprisingly, my favorite part was the list of specifics and explanations in the back. (At the end of the day, while I respect poetry, I like it served with a healthy dose of historical background.) I worry that The Undefeated‘s format does it a disservice–my children rarely take the time to read the fine print at the end of picture books like I do–but I can also see why sprinkling that information throughout might weaken the overall effect. I think adults will be far more drawn to this than children; if my children’s reactions prove me wrong, though, I’ll be sure to let you know!