Review of How Old Am I? by JR

Art, Biography, Children's Nonfiction Review, Photography, Starred Review 0

How Old Am I?

1 – 100

Faces From Around the World

by JR
The Inside Out Project

Phaidon Press, 2021. 216 pages.
Review written July 28, 2021, from a library book
Starred Review

The concept of this book is very easy to explain. The execution of the concept is utterly delightful.

This book shows the faces of one hundred people from all over the world. Each one is a different age. The faces are presented in order of age, featuring the 1-year-old first and the 100-year-old last.

The questions the participants are asked are presented at the front of the book. (I actually didn’t notice this at first, but I got the idea quickly anyway.) Here are the questions:

Hello! [The person answers in their own language.]

What is your name?

How old are you?

Where do you live? Where were you born? [A small map features these places. A very large variety of places are presented.]

What makes you happy? What is your wish for the world? No matter how old we are or where we live, we each have a story to tell. What’s yours?

The section answering those last questions is short, but there’s lots that can be conveyed. Here are a few examples:

Here’s how 6-year-old Noam answered:

I am super excited about my next birthday – I wish it was today! I am proud because I already know how to read, dance, and go to sleepovers. When I’m 18, I want to be the President of America. Chocolate is what makes me happy. I wish the whole world was made of chocolate and that when you want to eat some chocolate, you can just take it from the walls around you. Chocolate is what makes everybody happy.

34-year-old Maria, from Russia, says:

When I was little I thought anything was possible. I still believe this now! When I was around 5 to 8, I had a wild imagination. I could be a princess one day, or a firefighter or teacher another. I’m still interested in different lives and now have a job making documentaries – movies that show the world around us and the lives of real people. I learn about all kinds of people in different places – from Tokyo to California, from Norway to Madagascar.

And 57-year-old Safarina from Indonesia:

It doesn’t matter how old I am, I always look forward to my next birthday. At 27 I got married, at 28 I had my first baby girl, and at 38 I had my baby boy and finished my studies, so all of those ages mean a lot to me. I am a scientist now, but before that I was a veterinarian, helping animals. I really like working as a scientist because it is exciting and unique. My family, my work, and music make me happy in life.

79-year-old Rafael, from Slovenia, says:

I started going to school when I was 7. Our school was small, old, and made of wood. We didn’t have heating or toilets, and the teachers were very strict. But home was a warm place. I had my parents and my siblings and a cherry tree that was my hideaway. I used to do my homework and studying in my tree. Later I moved to the city and learned to fix and make electrical tools and equipment. I am really proud of my job, and even at my age, I still work.

The last person featured in the book is 100-year-old Beatrice from the USA. She says:

I was a sickly child with a heart problem, and I was allergic to everything, which meant I wasn’t able to run around. When I was 7, I found the local library. I still love to read, and for the last ten years I have been a library volunteer. I never dreamed to be this age. It’s an amazing experience. I am healthy and well, I don’t walk with a cane, and I live alone. That’s not common at my age and something to be grateful for.

These quotations give you a taste, but the full experience comes with the large pictures of their smiling faces and the greetings in so many languages.

The graphic design of the book is also done well, with each person featured with a background slowly going through all the colors of the rainbow. The 1-year-old has a yellow background and so does the 100-year-old, but they’ve gone through all possible shades as the pages change slightly with each turn.

At the back, we’ve got information about the artist who created The Inside Out Project, putting large photos of people on buildings across the world. This book came out of that project. I love the way it includes people from all over the world as a result. This book is truly a delightful experience.

insideoutproject.net
phaidon.com

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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of True You: A Gender Journey, by Gwen Agna and Shelley Rotner

Art, Children's Nonfiction Review, Photography, Starred Review 0

True You

A Gender Journey

by Gwen Agna and Shelley Rotner
Photographs by Shelley Rotner

Clarion Books (HarperCollins), 2022. 48 pages.
Review written December 13, 2022, from a library book
Starred Review

Hooray! Shelley Rotner, author and photographer of many gorgeous photo-illustrated picture books, has turned her attention to the beautiful variety of children’s genders. Working with another early childhood educator, the two have written a book that explains gender in a way that children can understand. There are also nine pages of back matter with more information and further resources.

As with all of Shelley Rotner’s books, the main feature of the book is big, beautiful photographs of active children.

The book begins:

We are kids!

Girls, boys,
neither,
both,
or just not sure.

The photos show these kids being joyful, curious, and creative.

After some introductions, we meet specific kids, with speech bubbles coming from their pictures. The authors interviewed many kids and used their words. Here are a couple of them:

They thought I was a boy when I was born. But now, sometimes I feel like a girl.

Everyone can dress however they want.

Boys can wear dresses and girls don’t have to.

Another kid —

When I was born, people said I was a girl.
They were right!

I’m a girl because I feel like a girl!

People should love everybody for who they are. Anyone can play with dolls. All the colors are for everyone. Everybody can be strong.

As the book says, “Sometimes kids are just being kids — exploring different things!”

This big beautiful book can touch off accepting and supportive conversations. Whether or not your child is gender-nonconforming, this book will help them understand their peers, with an emphasis on kindness and acceptance. And there are plenty of resources for parents at the back.

gwenagna.com
shelleyrotner.com
harpercollinschildrens.com

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Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of Brown Girls Do Ballet, by TaKiyah Wallace-McMillian, words by JaNay Brown-Wood

Contemporary, Photography, Picture Book Review, Starred Review 0

Brown Girls Do Ballet

Celebrating Diverse Girls Taking Center Stage

by TaKiyah Wallace-McMillan
words by JaNay Brown-Wood

Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, 2024. 40 pages.
Review written September 26, 2024, from a library book
Starred Review

This picture book is about the photographs, and that is reflected in the cover, where the photographer is listed first and as the main creator.

And the photographs are pictures of brown girls doing ballet, exactly as the title says. And they are stunning! We’ve got big girls and small girls, lighter-skinned and darker-skinned girls, beginners and proficient ballerinas, even a disabled girl in and out of her wheelchair. Some of the girls are actively dancing, others are hanging out with friends in their dance gear.

The text that goes along with the photographs is affirming, and specifically addressed to Brown Girls.

Here’s a sample:

Brown Girl, b e n d —
your knees, elbows, neck – and send
awe through each of them so blessed
to witness you in motion,

the vibrance of your beauty
as it glows and grows and flows

from the top of your poised crown to
the tip of pointed toe.

Do you even know the power
that you hold?

So I enjoy this book because of looking at the pictures of beautiful girls, joyful and dancing. I’ve read more than one testimony of a brown ballerina that they began dreaming of dance when they saw a dancer who looked like them. This book brings that experience to many more girls and strongly affirms that they belong. And it’s beautiful to see.

browngirlsdoballet.com
blackdogandleventhal.com

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Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of Girls Who Build, by Katie Hughes

Art, Children's Nonfiction Review, Photography, Starred Review 0

Girls Who Build

Inspiring Curiosity and Confidence to Make Anything Possible

by Katie Hughes
illustrated by Kay Coenen

Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, 2020. 258 pages.
Review written June 8, 2021, from a library book
Starred Review

This book is amazing and inspirational. It’s a high-quality photo book full of photographs of girls who build. Each featured girl has information about them – first name, age, location, and where they learn – and then a short interview about their history with building and how building makes them feel. Many of the girls present a project they’ve made, and instructions follow to make the project.

The book has a glossary and extensive instructions about building at the front. The importance of competent supervision and safety gear are stressed.

The author and photographer, Katie Hughes, is the founder of Girls Build. I absolutely love the story she tells at the end of her introduction which explains about the camp she runs, teaching girls to use tools:

On the last day of camp, when the girls are wild, loud, and somewhat preposterous as they tour their parents and guardians around, I make sure to position myself near what is commonly called the chop saw a stationary tool that sits on its own stand and features a 12” blade. Formally, it’s known as a sliding compound miter saw. To operate it, girls must reach up to the handle, hit the trigger, and lower the blade through a piece of wood. To parental eyes, it can look terrifying. It’s time to show off, though, and each girl walks up confidently.

She does all the prerequisite measuring and safety steps, and finally rests her fingers on the trigger, ready to cut. It’s at that moment that her parents, who have clearly been holding back, look to her and say, “Are you sure you can use this?” It’s like they waited until the last second, knowing they sent her to camp for this very tool, for this very lesson, and for her to use it with confidence. They can’t help themselves – they even hate themselves for it – but the words escape their mouths almost involuntarily.

Then comes the response.

No matter if she is ten or fourteen, she simultaneously huffs and slowly, meticulously, delivers the best eye roll imaginable.

“Of course I can use a chop saw,” she mutters, as if a chop saw were a pencil or tricycle or one of those little cars kids push with their feet. Of course she can. Duh.

She then hits the trigger, her shoulders thrown back in slight defiance, her cut as perfect as if I’d cut it. Then she blows off the sawdust with a little extra swagger.

I love that swagger. And I’ve started to think of the eye roll as the Girls Build litmus test.

Did she roller eyes at her parents for doubting her ability to handle the 12” sliding compound miter saw? Yes?

Mission accomplished.

What follows are photos of and interviews with those confident girls, explaining what building does for them, encouraging other girls to build, and explaining how they made some projects.

If you give this book to a girl, be prepared to help her find a place where she can learn to build.

I didn’t use the book to learn to build (though I was tempted), but I read the whole thing for the delight of seeing those confident faces.

girlsbuild.org
blackdogandleventhal.com

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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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*Note* To try to catch up on posting reviews, I’m posting the oldest reviews I’ve written on my blog without making a page on my main website. They’re still good books!

Review of The Catch Me If You Can, by Jessica Nabongo

Adventure, Nonfiction Review, Photography, Starred Review, Travel, True Stories 0

The Catch Me If You Can

One Woman’s Journey to Every Country in the World

by Jessica Nabongo

National Geographic, 2022. 413 pages.
Review written February 11, 2023, from a library book.
Starred Review

This book is awesome!

Jessica Nabongo has traveled to all 195 United Nations-recognized countries in the world. In this book, she takes us along on that journey, complete with stunning photographs. She tells us about the people she met and the experiences she enjoyed.

Jessica is the first Black woman to officially achieve this milestone. I love her attitude of putting aside fear and looking for the good in every place in the world.

And oh my goodness, her outfits! She shows up in many of the pictures, wearing stunning outfits reflecting the location. The photography alone in this book makes it amazing, but combined with her stories, I was fascinated from start to finish.

My plan was to read about one country per day. Well, that was taking a long time, so I upped it to two or three countries per day. And yes, I renewed the book several times. But the dose of adventure and delight became a nice part of my routine.

Jessica’s Introduction is inspiring. Here are two of the lessons she learned:

I have visited the world’s 195 countries and 10 territories. Through these travels I learned two key lessons: First, most people are good. My journey was made possible by the kindness of strangers — some who opened their homes to me and others who donated money to help me reach the finish line. I do not know when we started to assume the worst in each other, but if you consider yourself to be a good person, why would you assume that a stranger is a bad one? I always assume the best of people because that is what I received nine times out of 10 in every corner of the world. The few bad experiences will never outweigh the good.

The second lesson I learned is that we are more similar than we are different. In the end, neither race, gender, social class, religion, sexual orientation, body type, education level, nor nationality make you better than the next person. The French philosopher Pierre Teilhard de Chardin said, “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience.” Once you fully accept that, you realize how much our differences simply do not matter.

I love her goal for the reader:

The intention of this book is not to convince you to travel to every country in the world, though it might. That was my dream. My intention is to show everyone — not just Black women and men, but all women and men — that your dreams are valid. Your dreams are achievable.

Let me encourage you to travel the world with Jessica Nabongo!

thecatchmeifyoucan.com
natgeo.com

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Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of Collective Wisdom, edited by Grace Bonney

Musings, Nonfiction Review, Photography, Starred Review 0

Collective Wisdom

Lessons, Inspiration, and Advice from Women over 50

edited by Grace Bonney

Artisan, 2021. 399 pages.
Review written July 23, 2022, from a library book
Starred Review

This gorgeous volume of photographs and profiles is a perfect coffee table book to read slowly.
I’ve been reading one profile per day for many months now, and I’m inspired. Yes, in my case I used a library book and simply kept renewing, but this would be a lovely investment to enjoy all over again even after you’ve been through it once, especially since 50 percent of the profits are to be divided among the women featured in the book.

There are 80 profiles in this book, all accompanied by full-page photographic portraits. Most of the profiles are of individual women who are over fifty, but also pairs of intergenerational friends, and some featuring groups of older women who have found community together. The majority of the individual women featured are in their seventies and eighties. These are accomplished women, and there were several writers whose work I knew about and admired. There’s great diversity in the profiles, with I think the majority being BIPOC, and queer and transgender women included as well.

I love rereading the Introduction after having read the whole book, because I think Grace Bonney has succeeded in meeting the goals she expresses there. Here’s a sampling from that:

Since the beginning of time, women have been the keepers of stories, traditions, and wisdom. And for too long, the powerful conversations women have with each other have been overlooked, because society often devalues women, age, and knowledge that is spoken rather than written. Collective Wisdom seeks to rebalance these scales by valuing women who have lived long and complex lives — and the experience and perspective that come with that.

My goal with Collective Wisdom is twofold. I want to gather and share stories and advice that we can all return to, over and over, whenever we need help finding our way. But I also want to remind anyone reading that the most powerful and life-changing tools we all have access to are the connections we form with other women….

In sharing and celebrating the stories and the lessons the women in Collective Wisdom have learned, my hope is that anyone reading will feel uplifted, less alone, inspired to reach out to women who are older or younger than they are right now, and moved to nourish and celebrate the relationships they already have. Your whole world can change when you change whom you listen to. Mine has changed from listening to everyone here.

The editor has met that hope in me with her wonderful book!

Another thing she’s accomplished is that listening to the repeated questions and hearing answers from so many different women, I’m mulling over how I, another woman over fifty, would answer them. Questions like: “What does your current age feel like to you?” “What are you most proud of about yourself?” “What misconceptions about aging would you like to dispel?” “When do you feel your most powerful?” “What role do you feel your ancestors, or the women in your family who came before you, play in your life?” “How has your sense of self-confidence or self-acceptance evolved over time?” “What would you like to learn or experience at this stage in your life?” “Knowing what you know now, what would you go back and tell your younger self?”

There’s so much beauty and wisdom in this book! I love the way the large photographic portraits show that each woman is fabulously beautiful, including those wrinkled with age. This book uplifted, inspired, and encouraged me from start to finish.

artisanbooks.com

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Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of Silent Cities, by Jeffrey H. Loria and Julie Loria

Art, Creativity, Nonfiction Review, Photography 0

Silent Cities

Portraits of a Pandemic
15 Cities Across the World

by Jeffrey H. Loria and Julie Loria

Skyhorse Publishing, 2021. 366 pages.
Review written March 11, 2022, from a library book.

This book is a large-format doorstop of a book full of large photographs. I read it at the library, looking at photos from a city or two each day, so I wouldn’t have to carry it home and back.

The idea is simple: Photos of fifteen cities taken during the start of the pandemic, when those cities were more deserted than they will ever be again. It’s striking to see the famous buildings and sites without crowds of people.

I think I will enjoy this book more in about ten years. Now it’s almost painful to remember back when the world felt we were all in this together. There are many photos celebrating healthcare workers as heroes, and almost every person who does show up in the pictures is wearing a mask.

The cities featured are London, New York, Jerusalem, Los Angeles, Madrid, Miami, Paris, Chicago, Rio de Janeiro, Boston, Rome, San Francisco, Tel Aviv, Tokyo, and Washington, DC. The photos were taken by different photographers during the beginning of the pandemic and collected by the authors. They provide very little commentary, as the pictures speak for themselves.

This book is worth taking the time to look through and see what happens to our great cities when the people are pushed out of the picture.

skyhorsepublishing.com

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Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of The Debt Project, by Brittany M. Powell

Current Issues, Nonfiction Review, Photography, Starred Review 0

The Debt Project

99 Portraits Across America

by Brittany M. Powell
with a foreword by Astra Taylor

West Margin Press, 2020. 216 pages.
Review written October 29, 2021, from a library book
Starred Review

Wow. This book is simply photographs of 99 Americans from all over the country, sitting in their living space. Accompanying each portrait is a copy of a handwritten page by the subject talking about their debt.

Readers, there’s so, so much debt.

At first I was surprised how many people listed mortgages — I think of that as good debt, because a home equity loan allowed me to pay off $39,000 of credit cards. And my home now would sell for considerably more than what I paid for it. But of course a mortgage is indeed debt. Some of the people featured lost homes in hurricane Katrina or their home lost value in the recession, so they owe more than what it’s worth.

Many, many people were in debt after divorce, which was the source of my own credit card debt. But by far the most common source of large debts was student loans. Many of the portraits here were of young people with staggering amounts of debt they incurred in order to get an education. Many had debt from medical bills. Many are unemployed and have no idea how they’ll pay it all off.

Altogether, it’s a sobering set of portraits. Some of the subjects admit to making poor choices, but for many it was a matter of survival. Taken together, these stories show staggering debt is a common problem in America today.

I would have appreciated this book even more when I had the credit card debt. (And I was only able to buy the home that saved me from it because my dad gave me the down payment. On my own, the amount of debt continued to rise.) At least by looking at this book, you know you’re not alone.

It also brings home the point that this is a societal problem. So many young people are beginning their adult lives with crippling debt. Shouldn’t there be a better way to launch young adults? Shouldn’t there be a better way for older adults to get a new start with a graduate degree? This book left me asking those questions.

debtcollective.org
neweconomynyc.org
ourfinancialsecurity.org
rollingjubilee.org
mappingstudentdebt.org
WestMarginPress.com

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Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of Play Like a Girl, by Kate T. Parker

Art, Children's Nonfiction Review, Photography 0

Play Like a Girl

Life Lessons from the Soccer Field

by Kate T. Parker

Workman Publishing, 2020. 204 pages.
Review written October 31, 2020, from a library book

Play Like a Girl is another book packed with wonderful action shots of people from the author of Strong Is the New Pretty and The Heart of a Boy. This book features female soccer players – girls and women from all levels of soccer competition. Every photo includes a quote with the subject’s first name and age. Professional soccer players featured are given a short bio at the back.

The book is organized into ten chapters with ten “Rules,” things like “Keep Your Head Up” and “The Team Is the Thing.” The first page of the chapter has a short inspirational text with lessons from playing soccer. The rest is all quotes and photos.

This is another astonishingly beautiful book to look through. Almost made me wish I played soccer! This book would be a wonderful gift for any girl who plays soccer.

katetparker.com
workman.com

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Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of I Am Dance, by Hal Banfield

Creativity, Nonfiction Review, Photography, Starred Review 0

I Am Dance

Words and Images of the Black Dancer

by Hal Banfield

The Literary Revolutionary, 2019. 94 pages.
Review written August 27, 2020, from a library book
Starred Review

I Am Dance is a gorgeous art photography book featuring twenty black dancers. Here’s a paragraph from the creator’s introduction:

Much like the old proverb about children, it is believed that dancers should be seen and not heard since it is widely understood that dancers speak with their bodies. It was important to me that this I Am Dance project be a platform for the black dancer to express themselves beyond just using their bodies. I wanted this project to be a place for them to also have a voice. Finding a good cross section of talented and trained dancers with interesting and dynamic stories to share was the first order of business and proved to be quite a task. Through months of trial and error, I would eventually identify and assemble a core group of talented and disciplined dancers who latched onto the concept of this project and were willing to be photographed and share their personal stories. What started out as an idea for a photo gallery exhibition would eventually blossom into a collection of diverse stories and images that now fit into the pages of this book.

Each of the twenty dancers is featured in two spreads full of beautiful action photos. Looking at those photos alone gives plenty of opportunity for wonder. They are also given a short page of text each, in their own voices, talking about what dancing means to them.

After many “I Am…” statements, such as “I Am Powerful.”; “I Am Joyful.”; “I Am a Fighter.” and “I Am Connected,” the book ends with a page heading: “We. Are. Dance.”

Because we danced today, the voices of tomorrow will shout louder, every hip will sway wider and every finger will snap sharper in time. Like the roar and crash of the ocean waves, the next generation of dancers of color will hear the undulating taps and echoes of our toes urging them to pick up the beat and keep the rhythm.

I am not a dancer, and I am not black, but I was still inspired by reading and gazing at this beautiful book.

iamdancebook.com

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Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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