Review of Whale Eyes, by James Robinson

Biography, Children's Nonfiction Review, Starred Review 0

Whale Eyes

A Memoir About Seeing and Being Seen

by James Robinson
with illustrations by Brian Rea

Penguin Workshop, 2025. 298 pages.
Review written August 11, 2025, from a library book.
Starred Review

This book will literally change your perspective.

It’s not often that I have to order additional copies of a memoir published for kids because of so many holds, but that happened with Whale Eyes. What a creative and fascinating book! Written by a documentary filmmaker about his own childhood, Whale Eyes shows you what it’s like to have strabismus and exotropia – by playing with the format and illustrations in this book. You’ll be turning the book upside-down and even folding a page. (Do it gently if you’re using a library copy!) And you’ll begin to understand what it’s like to see things through Whale Eyes.

Most people’s brains fuse images from our two eyes. But James was born with eyes that don’t track together – so his brain compensates by alternating which eye he sees out of. And when his brain switches between eyes, that makes the image jump. Which makes reading extremely difficult. Or playing tee-ball – He tells the story of being the first kid the adults had ever seen strike out at tee-ball.

And when people see his misaligned eyes – they don’t know where to look. So they look away. Or they stare, trying to figure out what’s wrong with him. Neither one is good for connecting with people.

So this book is about helping people understand, and telling people where to look – at the eye that’s looking at them – so that we can make connections. He coined the term “Whale eyes” because we can only look at one of a whale’s eyes at a time – yet that doesn’t bother anyone.

There’s a point in the book where he asks the reader to take an intermission and watch a documentary about his condition that he made for the New York Times. I’d provide a link to that video – except watch it as an intermission, after you’ve been prepared, and I think it will hit all the harder.

He finishes up the book with some things he’s learned from making documentaries – things about making connections and catching people’s interests. He brings people together instead of pushing them apart.

This book is written for middle grade kids – but there is no age limit for liking and being fascinated by this book. I pushed a couple of my coworkers to check it out, and I hope this review will get it more readers. It will open your eyes to another way of looking at the world. Literally.

byjamesrobinson.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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Review of A Line Can Go Anywhere, written by Caroline McAlister, illustrated by Jamie Green

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

A Line Can Go Anywhere

The Brilliant, Resilient Life of Artist Ruth Asawa

written by Caroline McAlister
illustrated by Jamie Green

Roaring Brook Press, 2025. 40 pages.
Review written June 6, 2025, from a library book.
Starred Review

I love the way my job at the library brings me into contact with beautiful picture book biographies of people I never would have known about otherwise. A Line Can Go Anywhere is about the American sculptor and artist Ruth Asawa. She is best known for her sculptures made from wire looped and intertwined into lovely shapes.

And author Caroline McAlister takes the idea of those long lines of wires turned into form and applies it to the artist’s life.

When Ruth was a child, there was an invisible line between her home life, where she spoke Japanese and had food and customs from Japan, and her school life in an American elementary school. Then Japan attacked Pearl Harbor – and her father was arrested, and Ruth and her mother and six siblings were imprisoned first at a racetrack, and then at a Relocation Center in Arkansas. But some skilled artists taught the children at the racetrack – and Ruth began sketching the lines around her.

She was allowed to leave to attend college to become an art teacher – but they refused to place her in a school. So she went on to a more open college in North Carolina, and learned to truly express herself in art.

I like this page that explains how she began her distinctive art from wires:

Then on a summer trip to Mexico, Ruth watched women carry eggs in woven wire baskets. She liked that the baskets were sturdy, strong, and practical, but also beautiful, patterned, and transparent. This was art made by ordinary people, used in their everyday lives. It didn’t hang on museum walls.

She thought back to the barbed wire that had kept her imprisoned at the Arkansas camp. Now as the world moved on from war, she found freedom in twisting wire into cells that divided and multiplied. A single strand of ordinary wire became a continuous piece with no beginning or end. She demonstrated that a line could go anywhere, be anything. A line could stretch into infinity.

The book goes on to talk about some public art she made and about how she continued to express herself. The back matter gives more details and includes of a photo of the artist with her wire art.

An interesting, informative, and inspirational story.

carolinemcalisterauthor.com
jamiegreenillustration.com

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Review of Jella Lepman and Her Library of Dreams, by Katherine Paterson, illustrated by Sally Deng

Biography, Children's Nonfiction Review, Starred Review 0

Jella Lepman and Her Library of Dreams

The Woman Who Rescued a Generation of Children and Founded the World’s Largest Children’s Library

by Katherine Paterson
illustrated by Sally Deng

Handprint Books (Chronicle), 2025. 104 pages.
Review written June 9, 2025, from a library book.
Starred Review

This book has the large shape of an ordinary picture book biography, but there are more words on each page and many more pages, so this is suitable for older children than the usual picture book biography crowd, kids who can read more in-depth information. The book does have all the beauty and added interest of illustrations on every page.

I hadn’t heard of Jella Lepman before reading this book – but I had heard of the International Youth Library when I lived in Germany, and had long meant to go visit. I’m now all the more disappointed that I never did manage it – will have to visit Germany again to do so!

I’ve also heard of IBBY, the International Board of Books for Young People, which always has events at ALA Annual Conference – and was very happy to read a book about one of the founders.

So I knew about some of the things Jella Lepman established, but hearing her story helped me learn her wonderful motivation – helping children after war.

Jella was a German Jew who had fled Germany after Hitler rose to power. But she came back after the war, working for the U.S. Army. Her job was to be an “adviser on the cultural and educational needs of women and children” in the part of Germany under American occupation. She agonized about whether to accept the assignment.

Even if Jella could not help the adults, couldn’t she do something for suffering children? “I found it easy to believe that the children all to soon would fall into the wrong hands if no help came from the world outside,” she wrote. “Were not Germany’s children just as innocent as children all over the world, helpless victims of monstrous events?”

She had made up her mind. The fate of these children was too important. She would accept the military assignment.

After she arrived in Germany, I love the part where she decided to promote world peace through children’s books. She solicited books from countries across the world. It started with an International Exhibition of Children’s Books. The books were sent to the children of Germany as messengers of peace.

At first the show traveled around the country, but eventually Jella worked to give it a permanent home in the International Youth Library.

And that was only the beginning of her efforts toward peace through children’s books. To this librarian reading this, her story was uplifting and gratifying and beautiful.

katherinepaterson.com
chroniclekids.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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Review of A Woman of No Importance, by Sonia Purnell

Audiobooks, Biography, Nonfiction Review, Starred Review, True Stories 0

A Woman of No Importance

The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II

by Sonia Purnell
read by Juliet Stevenson

Books on Tape, 2019. 13 hours, 54 minutes.
Review written July 8, 2025, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

I wish I remembered what prompted me to put this amazing nonfiction audiobook on hold, because it was a great tip. I don’t do a great job of reading big thick nonfiction tomes, but as an audiobook, it kept my interest all the way.

The author researched one of the most important spies of World War II, Virginia Hall. Yes, she was American, from Baltimore – but most of the time she did her spying for the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) before the United States even entered the war.

Not only did Virginia Hall face obstacles and being underestimated and dismissed because she was a woman – she was also disabled, an amputee with a wooden leg. Those things kept her from getting to go far in the U.S. diplomatic corps, so when World War II started, she found work with the SOE.

She was in “free” France under the Vichy government for most of the war, building more and more networks in the Resistance, sending more and more information to the Allies, and helping the cause more and more. She was the sort who wouldn’t let them send her back to safety, even when it became apparent the Germans were figuring out who was causing them so much trouble.

All along the way, she faced frustrations because her assessments and requests weren’t given the weight due her experience – because she was a woman. But still, her expertise and skills made her incredibly effective and helpful for the Allied cause.

The story is riveting – especially the bulk of it where she is working in war-time France. It’s truly amazing how much she accomplished right under the noses of her enemies. This book helped me understand that her many years of service and the wide variety of ways she helped the Allied cause.

soniapurnell.com

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Review of Mr. Pei’s Perfect Shapes, written by Julie Leung, illustrated by Yifan Wu

Biography, Children's Nonfiction Review, Starred Review 0

Mr. Pei’s Perfect Shapes

The Story of Architect I. M. Pei

written by Julie Leung
illustrated by Yifan Wu

Quill Tree Books, 2024. 40 pages.
Review written February 19, 2025, from a library book.
Starred Review

This is a picture book biography of I. M. Pei, the international architect. It shows him as a boy, Ioeh Ming Pei, before he officially changed his name to his initials. He spent his summers and Suzhou and admired the rock gardens, with rocks sculpted to be further formed by the water.

The book talks about his career as an architect and how he wanted to make beautiful shapes that would last generations. His first big project was the Kennedy Presidential Library. He went on to do striking work in many countries – including the glass pyramid at the Louvre in Paris and the modern wing of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D. C.

What I love most about this biography is the many pictures showing his work. The art is bright and colorful, and I didn’t realize until I looked at it how familiar so many of I. M. Pei’s buildings would be. Now I know something about their creator.

jleungbooks.com
yifanwuart.com
harpercollinschildrens.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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Review of Beacon of Hope, written by Doreen Rappaport, illustrated by Tonya Engel

Biography, Children's Nonfiction Review 0

Beacon of Hope

The Life of Barack Obama

written by Doreen Rappaport
illustrated by Tonya Engel

Little, Brown and Company, 2025. 44 pages.
Review written June 7, 2025, from a library book.

I love Doreen Rappaport’s picture book biographies. I’ve already reviewed Helen’s Big World about Helen Keller, Frederick’s Journey about Frederick Douglass, and To Dare Mighty Things about Theodore Roosevelt. All of them are in a large square format with the subject’s face done large on the cover with no title to interrupt. (These are the books I reach for when my library’s doing a “bookface” challenge!) There are always big, beautiful illustrations, and quotations from the biography subject highlighted on every spread.

I might not have chosen to review this particular biography, but my birthday is Flag Day, June 14th, and there’s another famous person who’s making a fuss for having that birthday – so folks on the internet have declared it Obama Appreciation Day. I can get behind that! So my plan is to post this review on my birthday – though it might be somewhat later if I’m too busy celebrating.

This biography of Barack Obama fits the winning pattern. It tells about his growing-up years in Hawaii and Indonesia, and how he developed a “hunger to make the world a better place.” There’s a lot leading up to his run for the presidency, and then a summary of his many accomplishments as president.

Reading this today is especially poignant:

Barack believed America’s greatest strength was the diversity of its people. More women and people of color were hired to work for his administration. He nominated Sonia Sotomayor as the first Latinx Supreme Court Justice and nominated Elena Kagan to be the fourth woman justice. He supported same-sex marriage and the rights of LGBTQ Americans to serve in the country’s armed forces.

It ends with a quotation that we can take hope in today:

I am the eternal optimist. I think that over time people respond to civility and rational arguments.

May we get a president like that again some day.

doreenrappaport.com
tonyaengelart.com
LBYR.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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Review of Continental Drifter, by Kathy Macleod

Biography, Children's Nonfiction Review, Graphic Memoir, Starred Review 0

Continental Drifter

by Kathy Macleod

First Second, 2024. 216 pages.
Review written February 18, 2025, from a library book.
Starred Review
2025 Asian/Pacific American Literature Award Winner, Middle Grades
2024 Cybils Finalist, Elementary/Middle School Graphic Novels

This is one of those wonderful middle school memoirs in graphic novel form – the perfect way to express the angst of middle school. In Kathy Macleod’s case, she feels pulled between two continents. During the school year, she lives in Bangkok, Thailand, where her mother is from. And this summer they’re going to Maine, where her father is from.

Kathy speaks English at her International school in Bangkok and she watches American TV shows, so she hopes that she’ll belong better in America. And this year, she finally gets to go to summer camp.

But at summer camp, there are girls who know each other already, and everyone has white skin, and they think she’s from Taiwan, and once again she has trouble feeling like she belongs.

This story expresses the ups and downs of being between cultures and gets you thoroughly on Kathy’s side as she drifts between continents.

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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 Painting Wonder, by Katie Wray Schon

Biography, Children's Nonfiction Review, Starred Review 0

Painting Wonder

How Pauline Baynes Illustrated the Worlds of C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien

by Katie Wray Schon

Waxwing Books, 2025. 44 pages.
Review written May 20, 2025, from a library book.
Starred Review

Painting Wonder is a picture book biography of Pauline Baynes, the illustrator who gave us the iconic illustrations in The Chronicles of Narnia. This book told me she also illustrated Tolkien’s books. I didn’t think I’d seen those editions – and then last night I was reading my reviews from my 2003 Sonderbooks Stand-outs (as part of my #Sonderbooks25 celebration), and came across this line in the review of Smith of Wooton Major and Farmer Giles of Ham: “I like the drawings, by the same person who illustrated the original editions of The Chronicles of Narnia.”

I was happy to learn more about that person, Pauline Baynes, by reading this book.

Pauline was born in India to British parents, but was sent to boarding school in England when she was five years old. The book shows how she found refuge from gray skies and bullies in the pages of books full of adventure. She eventually went to art school, but her art career was interrupted by World War II. During the war, she used her art skills to make maps for the navy – which turned out to be perfect preparation for making maps of fantasy worlds.

The book talks about how she submitted her art to publishers, but then had a long wait.

More years go by,
as she’s busy with teaching art
and caring for family
and making new friends
and waiting
and drawing
and waiting.

But all at once,
the slow years of waiting end.

A famous author,
J. R. R. Tolkien,
sees her pictures in a pile.

He wants her to draw dragons
and knights and gnarled trees
for his new book, and she does.

It was probably Tolkien who gave her name to C. S. Lewis – which resulted in her wonderful illustrations for all seven Narnia books.

That’s the basic story in these pages, but it’s told poetically, and with illustrations reminiscent of Pauline’s own. Four pages of back matter fill in the details. I love this window into the life of an illustrator whose art I truly love.

katiewrayschon.com
WaxwingBooks.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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Review of Friend of Numbers, by Priya Narayanan, illustrated by Satwik Gade

Biography, Children's Nonfiction Review, Mathematical, Starred Review 0

Friend of Numbers

The Life of Mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan

written by Priya Narayanan
illustrated by Satwik Gade

Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 2023. First Published in India in 2019. 36 pages.
Review written November 17, 2023, from a library book.
Starred Review
2024 Mathical Book Prize Winner, ages 8-10

I’ve already read a wonderful picture book biography of the great mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan, but this one is special because it was written by an Indian for children of India.

This one is also geared a little younger, making Ramanujan’s ideas understandable to kids by presenting them as patterns only he could see.

It talks about his childhood in India and how he didn’t fit in, and then the changes he had to make to his hair and clothes to move to England to work on mathematics. It tells some stories about Ramanujan that are legendary among mathematicians, like this one:

Another day, Professor Hardy happened to mention that the taxi he had just come in had quite a boring number — 1729.

“No! It is a very interesting number,” Ramanujan shot back. His sharp memory drew out something he’d read about long ago, and on a piece of paper he scribbled:

1729 = (12 x 12 x 12) + (1 x 1 x 1)
1729 = (10 x 10 x 10) + (9 x 9 x 9)

“Look at the pattern!” he exclaimed.

Numbers were his friends. He could remember special things about them, the way that one remembers a friend’s birthday.

There are eight pages of notes at the back, including some ideas for readers to explore further. (Make a magic square using your birth date!)

A delightful introduction for kids to the life of this great man.

priyanarayanan.in

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Review of The Brilliant Calculator, by Jan Lower, illustrated by Susan Reagan

Award Winners, Biography, Children's Nonfiction Review, Starred Review 0

The Brilliant Calculator

How Mathematician Edith Clarke Helped Electrify America

by Jan Lower
illustrated by Susan Reagan

Calkins Creek, 2023. 40 pages.
Review written November 14, 2023, from a library book.
Starred Review
2024 Mathical Book Prize Honor Book, Ages 8-10.

There’s no way I won’t love it: A picture book biography that has “Mathematician” in the title!

This picture book tells the story of Edith Clarke, America’s first female electrical engineer, whose long and varied career helped produce the technology that keeps power lines from losing power over distance.

That’s the most easily understandable of her achievements. This author does a good job of explaining that she was brilliant, that she used mathematics, that she proved herself when men didn’t want to hire her, and that she created inventions that made calculations easier and ultimately make our lives better today.

I like that even though her accomplishments were technical, the author and illustrator presented them in a way kids can understand. I also liked the quotes from Edith sprinkled throughout the book, with this one at the end of the main text, before the six pages of back matter:

There is a future for women in engineering, and some day the only limitation will be their own lack of ability, as we are fast approaching an age in which men and women will be measured by their worth as individuals.

May it be so.

janlower.com
susanreaganart.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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