Jeanette Winter is a celebrated picture book creator whose acclaimed works include Diego; Oil; and The Secret Project, all written by Jonah Winter, and her own Sisters: Venus & Serena Williams; The World Is Not a Rectangle: A Portrait of Architect Zaha Hadid; Nanuk the Ice Bear; Malala, a Brave Girl from Pakistan/Iqbal, a Brave Boy from Pakistan: Two Stories of Bravery; Henri’s Scissors; Biblioburro: A True Story from Colombia; Nasreen’s Secret School: A True Story from Afghanistan; and The Librarian of Basra: A True Story from Iraq.
A master picture-book artist introduces quite young readers to two
astonishing heroes of the world born in Pakistan...Winter, in
impressive command of the page with her spare text and calm, rich,
digitally rendered art, offers this difficult material
unapologetically. As she often does, she distills the stories to
their essences, conveying with very few words the fearlessness and
the hope wielded by these children. Iqbal's and Malala's stories
are presented as two separate tales, back to back. In a poignant
double-page spread at the middle, edge-to-edge art shows each child
atop a mountain. Iqbal's kite string has just left his hand; his
kite drifts away toward Malala. Malala's kite string is still in
her hand, and her kite reaches toward Iqbal...Brave and
heartrending.
*Kirkus Reviews STARRED REVIEW 10/1/14*
In a two-in-one book that readers can begin from either end, Winter
links the lives of two courageous child activists from
Pakistan—Malala Yousafzai and Iqbal Masih. The pairing works to
good effect; it is as if Malala stands on the shoulders of
Iqbal...Winter’s spare prose and simple, colorful pictures
illustrate both children’s circumstances and the mantles they
accepted. An introductory note to each story provides a much-needed
event summary. Readers will be moved by both sacrifices, and many
will want to know more...This is an inspiring introduction to two
important young champions of human rights.
*Booklist 10/1/14*
Author and illustrator Winter...once again tackles the topic of
humanitarian activism amid political violence in this two-in-one
picture book...Like Winter’s earlier works, simple sentences and
repetition (“Still Malala speaks out”) give the story an accessible
rhythm, and illustrations consisting of bold colors and shapes,
each framed by a colorful geometric pattern, indicate moods ranging
from the light pink of mourning to the bold orange and purple of
defiance. The two stories are linked by a shared, wordless center
spread featuring a kite motif from Masih’s story...The need to
rotate the book physically in order to read each story adds a
tactical element to the reading experience. Direct quotes from the
young activists appear in red and purple respectively...a
sensitive, age-appropriate treatment of a difficult but important
topic.–Jill Ratzan, I. L. Peretz Community Jewish School, Somerset,
NJ
*School Library Journal*
Winter (Henri’s Scissors) continues her series of illustrated
biographies with a two-in-one volume...Naïf, milky-toned digital
illustrations make the story’s terrors easier to bear...The thread
joining these stories is the children’s thirst for education, no
matter the cost. Readers who drag their feet to school may
benefit...from an introduction to children who are desperate to
attend.
*October 15, 2014*
With an economy of words, unembellished language and her signature
flat, child-centric illustrations, Jeanette Winter (The Librarian
of Basra) creates a quietly magnificent tribute to two
extraordinary human beings...The front-to-back story features
Malala, the reverse tells the story of Iqbal, and Winter smoothly
joins them together in the center spread. Malala's story opens as
her would-be assassin descends upon her school van, then backtracks
to tell how Malala spoke out repeatedly against the Taliban's ban
on educating girls...Winter describes the Taliban attack, and
Malala's miraculous survival, in simple, child-appropriate
language...In the luminous full-page center spread, Malala and
Iqbal stand on mountains, gazing at each other under a starry sky,
flying kites that dance across to the other's side. Malala keeps a
firm grasp on her kite string, while Iqbal releases his. Even as
Iqbal's story saddens us, we must remember him in conjunction with
Malala, living proof that hope thrives alongside death. Coupling
the stories creates a whole greater than the sum of its parts.
Winter has created a radiant, transcendent book. --Allie Jane
Bruce, children's librarian, Bank Street College of Education Shelf
Talker: The biographies of two children's rights activists, Malala
Yousafzai and Iqbal Masih, together in one book; their stories
balance each other to create a radiant whole.
*Shelf Awareness, October 15, 2014 - STARRED REVIEW*
This picture book tells two stories (one side is Malala’s story;
flip it over for Iqbal’s), introducing young readers to Malala
Yousafzai and Iqbal Masih, two Pakistani children who fought for
peace and justice and who both suffered violence...Winter tells
each child’s story in clear, concise prose...Winter uses the
imagery of a kite as both a metaphor for childhood and as a way to
visually connect the two child activists. Mid-book, where the two
narratives meet, a poignant double-page spread shows Malala, in
vivid coral, flying a kite in a night sky, while Iqbal, shaded in
an ethereal gray, can no longer hold on to his. Though both stories
are painful, they can be a great place to begin a young activist’s
education.
*Horn Book, November/December 2014*
Muted tones and doll-like representations of the two heroes soften
the tragedy of the stories, and the inclusion of kites as symbols
of freedom are used to advantage as the ghostly Iqbal and vibrant
Malala exchange kites on the transition spread between stories.
With Malala’s recent Nobel Peace Prize award (made after this
title’s publication), this work will fill demand for material at a
primary-grade level.
*December 2014*
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