Ronald Kidd

I liked that the white girl at the center of this story set in 1961 was realistically portrayed as a child who had inherited racist views from her family. It seems like in children's historical fiction, young white American characters are somehow untainted by the culture of white supremacy that surrounds them. This story really examines how you can think you are a good person from a nice family (as Billie does) but be completely blind to what is really going on. Billie slowly wakes up to the injustice that has always surrounded her. I think this is (sadly) relevant to many young white Americans today. We might think everything is hunky-dory, but that's because we live in a bubble of privilege.

So I liked this book a lot. At the same time, I recognize that there are already too many books that center white voices in American history. So while I think this is a good book and that is has the potential to speak to young white readers where they are, it is important to boost books (especially those by African American authors) that center people of color. Do not read this without reading books by the likes of Christopher Paul Curtis, Rita Williams-Garcia, John Lewis, Carole Boston Weatherford, Andrea Davis Pinkney, Jacqueline Woodson, Kekla Magoon, and Walter Dean Myers (and others).… (more)

OMG! A Pooh book where Kanga gets to say more than two sentences! And they're not just mommy murmurs!

When Roo and Pooh find Eeyore buried under a snowdrift, Kanga leads everyone around the Hundred-Acre Wood to show them how other animals stay warm during winter nights in the hopes it will inspire a solution that might work for the cold donkey. And Pooh does get a delightful idea.

Nice!

(My Pooh Project: I love Winnie the Pooh, and so does my wife. Having a daughter gave us a chance to indoctrinate her into the cult by buying and reading her every Pooh book we came across. How many is that? I’m going to count them this year by reading and reviewing one every day and seeing which month I finally run out. Track my progress here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/23954351-rod-brown?ref=nav_mybooks&she... )… (more)