Review by Booklist Review
With Caldecott Medalist Goade as illustrator, recent U.S. Poet Laureate Harjo's acclaimed poem becomes a beauty to behold. In spare, direct verse, Harjo, a member of the Mvskoke Nation, encourages readers to look to the universe, their own beginning within it, and the interconnectedness of all its creatures. The softened watercolor-and-mixed-media illustrations, drawing on Goade's Tlingit culture, begin with a luminous eagle soaring through the cosmos until it reaches the edges of the earth. In a blend of time and space, a Native American girl is born. She becomes part of a continuing journey across the earth, among the land, the seas, the mountains, and the forests, and along with the Earth's plants and animals, her family, and her ancestors. Each spread features only a sentence or two, allowing readers to pause and reflect upon the text's significance and the illustrations' details. Symbols in one image often carry over and lend significance to others, such as the girl's small hand forming roots, which lead through the soil to a larger soil-like hand in bloom. The illustrations end full circle with the universe reflected in the girl's eyes and a colorful culmination of repeated imagery as the girl admires the eagle continuing its path. A rich and reverential tribute to life, family, and poetry.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In an expansive poem turned picture book written by former U.S. poet laureate Harjo, a member of the Mvskoke Nation, and illustrated by Caldecott Medalist Goade, a member of the Tlingit Nation, the creators explore people's links to one another and to nature. Imperative lines bid readers to remember their bond with the cosmos ("the sky that you were born under"), their birth and parents ("how your mother/ struggled to give you form and breath"), the earth ("whose skin you are"), and its fauna and flora ("alive poems"). Created in watercolor, gouache, and colored pencil, Goade's lushly hued, multilayered images combine intricate patterns, form-line designs, and realistic horizons in their portrayals of humans and the natural world interacting. On one rust-hued spread, a child touches the earth on the verso, an act that emanates visually into the ground; on the recto, a handprint's image is delicately layered with a paw print, fungi and mycelium, shells and fish skeletons, birds in flight, and much, much more. Evoking the cyclical feeling of a slow breath in and out, it's a smartly constructed, reflective picture book based in connection and noticing: "Remember all is in motion,/ is growing, is you." Creators' notes conclude. Ages 4--8. Author's agent: Jin Auh, Wylie Agency. Illustrator's agent: Kirsten Hall, Catbird Productions. (Mar.)
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Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 3--As the modern world propels forward at a breakneck pace, the complexities of the universe can be easily forgotten. Every living creature is beholden to the cycles of nature--day and night, birth and death, growth and decay. Harjo, a member of the Mvskoke Nation and the U.S. Poet Laureate, urges young readers to remember that they are of the earth, both indebted to and intertwined with the natural world. In an economy of perfectly chosen words, Harjo conveys the ancient Indigenous reverence for nature and the passage of time. Caldecott winner and Tlingit tribe member Goade interprets the text in otherworldly watercolor illustrations that are nothing short of a masterclass in visual storytelling. Each scene incorporates icons of Northwest Coast art rendered with beautifully graduated color. Goade and Harjo's creative synergy produces an important cultural artifact and testimonial to their Native heritage. VERDICT A significant work of children's literature, this paean to nature and Indigenous culture belongs in every school and public library collection for years to come.--Sarah Simpson
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Generation-spanning Native creators deliver a lustrous celebration of generational memory. U.S. Poet Laureate Harjo (Mvskoke) wrote the poem that is this bookâe(tm)s text in 1983; Caldecott ÂMedalist Goadeâe(tm)s (Tlingit) illustrations bring it to a child audience forty years later. âeoeRemember the sky you were born under,âe urges Harjo, along with sun, moon, and stars. âeoeRemember your birth, how your mother / struggled to give you form and breath. / You are evidence of her life, / and her motherâe(tm)s, and hers.âe Thus is the child reader explicitly linked to their human heritage, but Harjoâe(tm)s web of belonging extends beyond literal family to the earth, its flora and fauna, and its peoples. Goade (We Are Water Protectors, rev. 7/20; Berry Song, rev. 7/22) begins with creation, as white Raven delivers light in the form of swooshes of color. Her imagery is drawn from her own heritage, the unmistakable iconography of Pacific Northwest Coast art informing figures both terrestrial and celestial. (Her illustratorâe(tm)s note expands thoughtfully on her inclusion of these elements.) One of the many striking spreads depicts a child and an adult picking berries. The childâe(tm)s hand rests on the ground, and roots spread out in cross section below; across the gutter, a stylized hand provides a visual representation of growth and continuity, with motifs of fish skeletons and shells nourishing the soil and plants sprouting, etc. The teeming images thrillingly catch young viewers up as they swirl, circles emphasizing the cyclical nature of life. âeoeRemember,âe closes the text, and children will. Vicky SmithMarch/April 2023 p.87 (c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A picture-book adaptation of a work by former U.S. Poet Laureate Harjo, illustrated by Caldecott medalist Goade. As Harjo, a member of the Mvskoke Nation, entreats readers to look back on their ancestors and the stories that have been passed from generation to generation, Goade draws from her Tlingit culture, depicting first the trickster Raven, who brought light to the world ("Remember the sun's birth at dawn"), then a young Tlingit girl. The sonorous text prompts the child to remember her birth, the parents who gave her life, "the earth whose skin you are," "the plants, trees, / animal life who all have their tribes, their families, their histories, too." Infused with rich hues and energy, Goade's lavish gouache, watercolor, and colored-pencil illustrations dance alongside Harjo's poetry like a musical score. "Remember all is in motion, / is growing, is you." Dreamlike images of soaring birds, swirling sea creatures, and swift-moving animals travel through a magical world of memories. Children will take comfort in the words of strength about nature and the universe; adults should use this book to spark dialogue about the natural world and family stories: "Remember the wind. / Remember her voice. / She knows the origin of this universe."(This book was reviewed digitally.) A contemplative, visually dazzling masterpiece that will resonate even more deeply each time it is read. (author's and illustrator's notes) (Picture book/poetry. 4-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
