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Articles by Jonah Winter
Lifting Young Voices: How Marian Wright Edelman Stood for Children
Wallace and Collier spotlight activist Marian Wright Edelman (b. 1939) in this polished narrative, using intimate second-person prose to ground her life in words and song. Named for contralto Marian Anderson, young Edelman herself has a “restless voice” that’s often heard singing at her pastor father’s church. As she grows, she also takes in others’ voices, listening to visiting poet Langston Hughes, studying with Howard Zinn, learning French and Russian while traveling, and more.
The Burning of the Books | Jewish Book Council
Skip to main content Join a community of readers who are committed to Jewish stories Sign up for JBC’s Nu Reads, a curated selection of Jewish books delivered straight to your door! Review By – August 10, 2026 The topic of Jonah Winter and Gary Kelley’s picture book, The Burning of the Books, never loses its relevance. Today, the urgency of depicting the history of censorship in its most brutal form seems obvious.
Diego Book Review
age 6+ Bilingual text and mini-murals illustrate Rivera's story. Parents need to know that this reissued biography tells the simplified but true story of Mexican muralist Diego Rivera. It is beautifully illustrated and won the New York Times Best Illustrated Book Award.
JFK Book Review
age 5+ Inspiring biography has bold, realistic artwork. Parents need to know that JFK by Jonah Winter is definitely pro-Kennedy but not overly sentimental. This picture-book biography of the 35th president of the United States does mention that Kennedy was not a perfect man, though he was extraordinary in so many ways.
age 8+ History this lively should be required reading in school. Parents need to know that The Founding Fathers: Those Horse-Ridin', Fiddle-Playin', Book-Readin', Gun-Totin' Gentlemen Who Started America, by Jonah Winter and illustrated by Barry Blitt, is a rollicking look at 14 of the men who came together to form a more perfect union -- starting with the Continental Congress, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
DEFENDING NATURE
Essential, and eye-opening, reading for serious students of wildlife conservation. A close look at one of the U.S. armed forces’ lesser-known, and more surprising, missions. Who would guess that U.S. domestic military bases harbor more types of rare animals than national parks do?
It Happened in Salem
. Aug. 2024. 32p. Tr $18.99. ISBN 9781568463902. COPY ISBN Gr 4 Up–Winter’s book offers a blunt and eerily modern take on the events and consequences of the infamous Salem Witch Trials, and it will make readers think twice about spreading rumors.
SPEAKING OF AMERICA
From George Washington to Joe Biden, Cohen unpacks a pithy quote from each U.S. president in succession. Some of the author’s choices resound down the years—“We hold these truths to be self-evident…” “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”—and most still carry some relevance even when they focus on issues more of the day than of all time.
KID-VENTORS | Kirkus Reviews
Celebrates young people’s ingenuity; will inspire and delight reluctant and avid readers alike. A captivating exploration of the ingenuity of young people who defied norms and persevered to see their inventions through. The book profiles kids ranging in ages from 6 to 16, detailing the challenges they faced and their paths to delivering breakthrough inventions or developing and improving on existing ones.
A CHILD'S INTRODUCTION TO ASIAN AMERICAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDER HISTORY
Hirahara starts by discussing how college students Yuji Ichioka and Emma Gee coined the term Asian American in 1968; she also defines the phrase Pacific Islanders but notes that the book doesn’t cover those with Central and Western Asian heritage. She goes on to explore various identities within the AAPI communities, as well as U.S. cities with large populations of each group, such as Springdale, Arkansas, home to half of the U.S.’s Marshallese population.
Heresy Press Newsletter #4
Guest Essay Fear and Publishing By Jonah Winter Franklin Roosevelt once famously said, “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself” –which begs the question, what about Siberian Tigers? Or nuclear weapons? Or drunk drivers?But after one gets such sarcastic rejoinders out of one’s system, one has to acknowledge the point he was making. Fear is itself a dangerous thing. And when fear takes over a person, a community, a country, or a publishing world, bad things can happen.
Opinion | Cancel Culture Dominates Children’s Literature
In 2016 Scholastic canceled the children’s book “A Birthday Cake for George Washington” two weeks after publishing it. The book’s images of smiling enslaved people set off a social-media tsunami and a petition demanding cancellation. It didn’t matter that the illustrator was black, or that the editor, Andrea Pinkney, was black and also a towering figure in the children’s book world. What mattered was that a social-media mob could force a major publisher to stop distributing a book.
BARRACOON | Kirkus Reviews
by Zora Neale Hurston ; adapted by Ibram X. Kendi ; illustrated by Jazzmen Lee-Johnson ‧ Scholar Kendi adapts Hurston’s account of one of the last survivors of the transatlantic slave trade. Among her many accomplishments, Hurston was a trained anthropologist, and one of her works of scholarship—based on interviews conducted in the late 1920s but not published until 2018—was the story of Cudjo Lewis, the last person to endure the Middle Passage.
TEAM TRASH | Kirkus Reviews
Two young time travelers discover that “Reduce/Reuse/Recycle” isn’t exactly a new idea. Involuntarily paired for a Sustainability Science Fair project, Charlie and Oliver—respectively presenting in Wheeler’s neatly composed panels as Black and Asian—get off to a ragged start until a classmate’s junky-looking device whisks them back in time for a series of eye-opening encounters.
GEORGE WASHINGTON'S ENGINEER
HOW RUFUS PUTNAM WON THE SIEGE OF BOSTON WITHOUT FIRING A SHOT by Darcy Pattison ; illustrated by Terry Kole ‧ Creative thinking leads to a significant military victory in Pattison’s middle-grade historical account. “Sometimes battles are fought with guns and bravery.
GERTIE, THE DARLING DUCK OF WWII
War-worried Midwesterners rally round an imperiled fowl family. By choosing to nest in an exceptionally risky public spot—far above the dirty Milwaukee River—darling Gertie offers a perfect distraction to humans in the last anxious days of World War II. Protective heroes—bridge tenders who rescue the mallard and her six cute ducklings in bad weather—ensure a happy ending: After a brief period on display in a department-store window, Gertie and her family are released into a nearby park.
SAVING THE NIGHT
HOW LIGHT POLLUTION IS HARMING LIFE ON EARTH From the Orca Footprints series , Vol. 26 by Stephen Aitken ‧ An overview of the effects of artificial light on nature and us. Aitken notes that many wild creatures are confused by increased levels of nighttime illumination—after all, as he states, half of all invertebrates, 3 out of 4 mammals, and nearly all amphibians are nocturnal.
INTERVIEW WITH BLACKBEARD & OTHER VICIOUS VI… | Kirkus Reviews
From the Interview With series , Vol. 2 by Andy Seed ; illustrated by Gareth Conway ‧ Horrid historical humans get the Q&A treatment. With the aid of a time machine/translator, the author meekly interviews a slew of antiheroes (eight men, one woman, and one couple, the notorious Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow), most of whom are of European or American origin. British humor and amusing line drawings leaven the encounters, but quite a number of fascinating facts make it through.
Cup of Coffee: February 9, 2023
Good morning! Subscribers who read yesterday’s missive should know that, following my no-sleep-for-two-days jag, I powered through without napping and then went to bed a little after 8pm on Tuesday night and slept until about 6:30 yesterday morning. I can’t remember the last time I got even eight hours of sleep let alone 10+, so I woke up in a strange new world, that I can tell ya.
The Story of the Saxophone
Lesa Cline-Ransome, James Ransome, Chronicle Books Children count to 10 and back in Quilt Counting by Lesa Cline-Ransome, illus. by James E. Ransome. This follow-up to Quilt Alphabet celebrates the ways in which a quilt (""a legacy handcrafted"") Continue reading »
ON THE CORNER OF CHOCOLATE AVENUE
HOW MILTON HERSHEY BROUGHT MILK CHOCOLATE TO AMERICA by Tziporah Cohen ; illustrated by Steven Salerno ‧ The tale of a real-life Willy Wonka who brought milk chocolate to the masses. The eponymous chocolatier’s life begins with gusto, as he is seen peering mournfully at a window full of sweet treats.
A JOURNEY IN COLOR
THE ART OF ELLIS WILSON by Jayne Moore Waldrop ; illustrated by Michael McBride ‧ Waldrop offers an illustrated story for children about the life of Harlem Renaissance artist Ellis Wilson (1899-1977). As the story opens, Wilson is a young boy growing up in rural Kentucky who has dreams of being a painter (“At a time when most folks saw the world as black or white, young Ellis Wilson watched colors dance across canvas”).
WOVEN OF THE WORLD
by Katey Howes ; illustrated by Dinara Mirtalipova ‧ Intelligent rhymes and handsome folk-art patterns spin a global story of weaving through the millennia. The narrative opens as an adult in a long black dress invites a child clothed in red (both are brown-skinned and blue-haired) to listen to the loom: “Clack. Clack. / Swish— / PULL BACK.
Sleepy Sheepy by Lucy Ruth Cummins
Lucy Ruth Cummins, illus. by Pete Oswald. Flamingo, $18.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-5934-6591-2 His eyelids are already below half-mast, and his weary parents—each of whom totes a wide-eyed infant lamb in a front-facing carrier—insist that it’s bedtime.
SEEN AND UNSEEN | Kirkus Reviews
WHAT DOROTHEA LANGE, TOYO MIYATAKE, AND ANSEL ADAMS'S PHOTOGRAPHS REVEAL ABOUT THE JAPANESE AMERICAN INCARCERATION by Elizabeth Partridge ; illustrated by Lauren Tamaki ‧ The incarceration of Japanese Americans through a different lens. Partridge and Tamaki spotlight three photographers who documented the experiences of those of Japanese descent who were imprisoned at Manzanar, California, during World War II.
Fire Chief Fran by Linda Ashman
Linda Ashman, illus. by Nancy Carpenter.
5,000 AWESOME FACTS (ABOUT ANIMALS!)
From the 5,000 Awesome Facts series by National Geographic ‧ A colorful, information-packed guide created from a trusted publisher in the science world. Vivid and jammed with information, this resource is suitable for browsing by the many children who are fascinated with animals. Young readers will enjoy perusing this book for the high-quality colorful photographs scattered throughout as much as for the data, and the lively, exciting format will appeal even to struggling and reluctant readers.
CHOOSING BRAVE | Kirkus Reviews
HOW MAMIE TILL-MOBLEY AND EMMETT TILL SPARKED THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT by Angela Joy ; illustrated by Janelle Washington ‧ The brutal killing of a Black youth turns his mother into an activist for justice. This poignant volume about the murder of Emmett Till focuses on his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, and how her son’s death drove her to seek justice, first for him and then for the Black community. Mamie and her family moved from Mississippi to the outskirts of Chicago, hoping for a better life.
On Her Wings: The Story of Toni Morrison
Jerdine Nolen, illus. by James E. Ransome. S&S/Wiseman, $18.99 (48p) ISBN 978-1-5344-7852-7 “Long before Chloe became a writer or a reader, she was a listener.” Nolen chronicles the life and career of Toni Morrison (1931–2019), from her birth in Lorain, Ohio, as Chloe Ardelia Wofford to her 1993 acceptance of the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Maya’s Song by Ren�e Watson
Renée Watson, illus. by Bryan Collier. HarperCollins, $19.99 (48p) ISBN 978-0-06-287158-9 In allusive biographical poems that focus on their subject’s developing voice, Watson recounts the life of activist and author Maya Angelou (1928–2014), beginning with her St. Louis birth as Marguerite Annie Johnson and ending with her reading at Bill Clinton’s 1993 presidential inauguration.
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A CAVEMAN, A QUEEN AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN
HISTORY AS YOU'VE NEVER SEEN IT BEFORE by Mike Barfield ; illustrated by Jess Bradley ‧ Human history is told in a series of bite-size, point-of-view cartoons covering lots of ground. What if the Age of Enlightenment were encapsulated by Isaac Newton's cat, Spithead? What if a Greek vase could talk, providing insight into ancient pottery making?
H IS FOR HARLEM | Kirkus Reviews
by Dinah Johnson ; illustrated by April Harrison ‧ An alphabetic journey through Harlem, past and present. Beginning with “A is for Apollo Theater” and ending with “Z is for Zora Neale Hurston,” this historically rich picture book highlights the significant people, places, works of art, memorable publications, and more that have long made Harlem a hub of Black culture.
DECO DESIGN | Kirkus Reviews
MIAMI BEACH STYLE by Isabel Hill ‧ Architectural historian Hill demystifies Miami Beach’s art deco–style buildings in her fifth book for children. Hill uses a simple rhyming text and full-page color photos to draw young readers into an exceptionally authoritative and engaging picture book that begins: “In Miami Beach, buildings have a special flair.
FROM ME TO YOU | Kirkus Reviews
THE POWER OF STORYTELLING AND ITS INHERENT GENERATIONAL WEALTH—AN AFRICAN AMERICAN STORY by Deidra R. Moore-Janvier ; illustrated by Valerie Bouthyette ‧ A Black mother explains slavery and the African diaspora to her young son in this illustrated work for children. In this debut, inspired by a real-life discussion between attorney Moore-Janvier and her 9-year-old child, a mom explains slavery, racism, and the African diaspora in a forthright but age-appropriate way.
CELIA PLANTED A GARDEN
Celia Laighton Thaxter loved the beauty of birds, flowers, and the ever changing sea. Born in 1835, she grew up on two islands off the shores of Maine and New Hampshire. As a young child, she planted marigolds to brighten the gray and white landscape of rocks, waves, and clouds on White Island, where her father was the lightkeeper. When Celia was 12 years old, her family moved to Appledore Island, where her father opened a hotel that catered to artists and writers.
CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?
by Jonah Winter ; illustrated by Jeanette Winter ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 31, 2020 In 1977, the oil carrier Exxon Valdez spilled 11 million gallons of oil into a formerly pristine Alaskan ocean inlet, killing millions of birds, animals, and fish. Despite a cleanup, crude oil is still there. The Winters foretold the destructive powers of the atomic bomb allusively in The Secret Project (2017), leaving the actuality to the backmatter.
TOGO & BALTO | Kirkus Reviews
by Joanna Rzezak ; illustrated by Joanna Rzezak ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 18, 2021 This book is buzzing with trivia. Follow a swarm of bees as they leave a beekeeper’s apiary in search of a new home. As the scout bees traverse the fields, readers are provided with a potpourri of facts and statements about bees. The information is scattered—much like the scout bees—and as a result, both the nominal plot and informational content are tissue-thin.
ONE WISH | Kirkus Reviews
by Marcie Colleen ; illustrated by Aaron Becker ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 31, 2021 A remarkable tree stands where the twin towers of the World Trade Center once soared.
THE ANGEL OF SANTO TOMAS
by Joanna Rzezak ; illustrated by Joanna Rzezak ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 18, 2021 This book is buzzing with trivia. Follow a swarm of bees as they leave a beekeeper’s apiary in search of a new home. As the scout bees traverse the fields, readers are provided with a potpourri of facts and statements about bees. The information is scattered—much like the scout bees—and as a result, both the nominal plot and informational content are tissue-thin.
SWEET JUSTICE | Kirkus Reviews
by Marcie Colleen ; illustrated by Aaron Becker ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 31, 2021 A remarkable tree stands where the twin towers of the World Trade Center once soared.
I WILL PROTECT YOU
by Jonah Winter ; illustrated by Jeanette Winter ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 31, 2020 In 1977, the oil carrier Exxon Valdez spilled 11 million gallons of oil into a formerly pristine Alaskan ocean inlet, killing millions of birds, animals, and fish. Despite a cleanup, crude oil is still there. The Winters foretold the destructive powers of the atomic bomb allusively in The Secret Project (2017), leaving the actuality to the backmatter.
STITCH BY STITCH
by Jonah Winter ; illustrated by Jeanette Winter ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 31, 2020 In 1977, the oil carrier Exxon Valdez spilled 11 million gallons of oil into a formerly pristine Alaskan ocean inlet, killing millions of birds, animals, and fish. Despite a cleanup, crude oil is still there. The Winters foretold the destructive powers of the atomic bomb allusively in The Secret Project (2017), leaving the actuality to the backmatter.
SONNY ROLLINS PLAYS THE BRIDGE
by Kamala Harris ; illustrated by Mechal Renee Roe ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 8, 2019 The junior senator from California introduces family and friends as everyday superheroes. The endpapers are covered with cascades of, mostly, early childhood snapshots (“This is me contemplating the future”—caregivers of toddlers will recognize that abstracted look).
CRAZY HORSE AND CUSTER
by Jonah Winter ; illustrated by Jeanette Winter ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 31, 2020 In 1977, the oil carrier Exxon Valdez spilled 11 million gallons of oil into a formerly pristine Alaskan ocean inlet, killing millions of birds, animals, and fish. Despite a cleanup, crude oil is still there. The Winters foretold the destructive powers of the atomic bomb allusively in The Secret Project (2017), leaving the actuality to the backmatter.
FROM THE TOPS OF THE TREES
by Sonia Manzano ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 15, 2020 Large color photographs (occasionally composed of montages) and accessible, simple text highlight global similarities and differences, always focusing on our universal connections. While child readers may not recognize Manzano, the Puerto Rican actress who played Maria on Sesame Street, adults will recognize her as a trusted diverse voice.
Children's Book Review: The Little Owl & the Big Tree: A Christmas Story by Jonah Winter, illus. by Jeanette Winter. Beach Lane, $17.99 (32p) ISBN 978-1-66590-213-7
Jonah Winter, illus. by Jeanette Winter. Beach Lane, $17.99 (32p) ISBN 978-1-66590-213-7 Jonah Winter narrates with quiet respect the journey of the saw-whet owl found in the 2020 Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, starting by describing her at home in the forest: “The owl didn’t have a name—/ and of course she didn’t:/ She was a wild animal.” Jeanette Winter zooms in on the owl in digital art, pulling back to show her tiny form against the great blue-green spruce she calls home.
THE PEOPLE REMEMBER
From the They Did What? series by Saundra Mitchell ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 10, 2016 Why should grown-ups get all the historical, scientific, athletic, cinematic, and artistic glory? Choosing exemplars from both past and present, Mitchell includes but goes well beyond Alexander the Great, Anne Frank, and like usual suspects to introduce a host of lesser-known luminaries.
THE ILLUSTRATED ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE ELEMENTS
by Jonah Winter ; illustrated by Jeanette Winter ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 31, 2020 In 1977, the oil carrier Exxon Valdez spilled 11 million gallons of oil into a formerly pristine Alaskan ocean inlet, killing millions of birds, animals, and fish. Despite a cleanup, crude oil is still there. The Winters foretold the destructive powers of the atomic bomb allusively in The Secret Project (2017), leaving the actuality to the backmatter.
A QUEEN TO THE RESCUE
From the They Did What? series by Saundra Mitchell ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 10, 2016 Why should grown-ups get all the historical, scientific, athletic, cinematic, and artistic glory? Choosing exemplars from both past and present, Mitchell includes but goes well beyond Alexander the Great, Anne Frank, and like usual suspects to introduce a host of lesser-known luminaries.
DR. FAUCI | Kirkus Reviews
by Jonah Winter ; illustrated by Bryan Collier ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 3, 2019 The life journey of the first African American to serve on the United States Supreme Court and the incidents that formed him. Thurgood Marshall grew up in segregated Baltimore, Maryland, with a family that encouraged him to stand for justice. Despite attending poor schools, he found a way to succeed. His father instilled in him a love of the law and encouraged him to argue like a lawyer during dinner conversations.
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