{"id":34547,"date":"2018-04-07T22:15:03","date_gmt":"2018-04-08T02:15:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=34547"},"modified":"2018-04-07T22:15:03","modified_gmt":"2018-04-08T02:15:03","slug":"review-of-crown-by-derrick-barnes-illustrated-by-gordon-c-james","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=34547","title":{"rendered":"Review of Crown, by Derrick Barnes, illustrated by Gordon C. James"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Crown<\/p>\n

An Ode to the Fresh Cut<\/em><\/p>\n

by Derrick Barnes
\nillustrated by Gordon C. James<\/p>\n

Bolden Books (Agate Publishing), Chicago, 2017. 32 pages.
\nStarred Review
\n2018 Newbery Honor Book
\n2018 Caldecott Honor Book
\n2018 Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book
\n2018 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book
\n2018 Capitol Choices selection<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not often that a picture book wins Newbery Honor. Because the Newbery is given specifically for the text. In this case, we can\u2019t write it off as a fluke, because not only did the 2018 Newbery committee think the text of this book was worthy of honor, the 2018 Coretta Scott King committee singled it out for the author\u2019s work. Mind you, it also<\/em> got honor from the 2018 Caldecott committee and from the 2018 Coretta Scott King committee for the illustrator\u2019s work. So this picture book garnered a truly amazing four Honor awards.<\/p>\n

This book is about a black boy getting a haircut. But also about a black boy feeling great about himself.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what the author says he was trying to do in a note in the back:<\/p>\n

Mr. Tony was my barber in the sixth grade. To get to his chair, I rode the Prospect southbound Metro bus to 63rd St. every Thursday, the day of the week my mother would leave eight dollars on the kitchen table so that I could get my hair cut. Walking out of that shop, I never felt like the same kid that went in. I couldn\u2019t wait for Friday morning so that Carmella Swift, my girlfriend, could see how perfect my box was shaped up. I knew she\u2019d bug out about the two parts on the right side of my head, which, in my mind, made me look like Big Daddy Kane. There was no way she\u2019d resist my ruler-straight hairline, a precise frame for my smiling, brown, 11-year-old face. That fresh cut made you more handsome. It made you smarter, more visible, and more aware of every great thing that could happen in your world.<\/p>\n

With this offering, I wanted to capture that moment when black and brown boys all over America visit \u201cthe shop\u201d and hop out of the chair filled with a higher self-esteem, with self-pride, with confidence, and an overall elevated view of who they are. The fresh cuts. That\u2019s where it all begins. It\u2019s how we develop swagger, and when we begin to care about how we present ourselves to the world. It\u2019s also the time when most of us become privy to the conversations and company of hardworking black men from all walks of life. We learn to mimic their tone, inflections, sense of humor, and verbal combative skills when discussing politics, women, sports, our community, and our future. And really, other than the church, the experience of getting a haircut is pretty much the only place in the black community where a black boy is \u201ctended to\u201d \u2013 treated like royalty.<\/p>\n

Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut<\/em> focuses on the humanity, the beautiful, raw, smart, perceptive, assured humanity of black boys\/sons\/brothers\/nephews\/grandsons, and how they see themselves when they highly approve of their reflections in the mirror. Deep down inside, they wish that everyone could see what they see: a real life, breathing, compassionate, thoughtful, brilliant, limitless soul that matters \u2013 that desperately matters. We\u2019ve always mattered.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

All the honor this book earned is testimony that the author and illustrator pulled this off with flair.<\/p>\n

Every person in the shop will rise to their feet
\nand give you a round of applause
\nfor being so FLY!
\nNot really . . . but they\u2019ll look like they want to.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll see it in their eyes.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The first time I read this book, I wasn\u2019t sure who I\u2019d recommend it to besides black and brown boys. But this book is a celebration! It\u2019s going to uplift anyone who reads it. And I, for one, am now in a position where it\u2019s just a little easier to see that kid coming up to the information desk as the living, breathing, compassionate, thoughtful, brilliant, and limitless soul he is.<\/p>\n

As with all picture books I review, you really need to check out this book yourself and enjoy the pictures to get the full experience. This one\u2019s highly recommended.<\/p>\n

agatepublishing.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Buy from Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Find this review on Sonderbooks<\/a> at: www.sonderbooks.com\/Picture_Books\/crown.html<\/a><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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