Review by Booklist Review
Rappaport, whose book Martin's Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. won a Caldecott Honor and Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor, offers a sensitive biography of Barack Obama that focuses on his quest for belonging, first for himself during a challenging childhood and then for all people. In this telling, Obama has a mentally stimulating childhood (his mother teaches him about civil rights leaders and his culture; his stepfather builds a mini zoo in the yard that includes two baby crocodiles and an ape). But young Obama also has an absentee father and an aching need to find his identity, especially acute when he's bullied for being Black at a predominantly white school. Rappaport's thematic through line is how Obama forges his identity and purpose by studying the works of Black civil rights leaders and putting their precepts into action, serving as a community organizer, Illinois state senator, U.S. senator, and POTUS. The illustrations, done in oil glazes over an acrylic medium, are richly textured and spotlight Obama's struggles and growth by highlighting his own words, using different text and colors on the page. An excellent successor to the legacy of Big Words books, marked by titles that introduce young readers to sophisticated vocabulary and ideas.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 1--4--The latest title in Rappaport's highly successful "Big Words Book" biography series focuses on Barack Obama. Using quotes to guide the narrative, the author captures the childhood and early influences on the life of the future president as he faced multiple moves, family changes, and racism as a multiracial young person growing up in Indonesia and Hawaii. Grappling with his identity and finding his place in the world are clearly detailed as Obama grows up and moves to the mainland of the United States for college and law school. His desire to make the world a better place is illustrated in his dedication to community activism in Chicago and then throughout his political career. His own words are used to infuse the text with honesty and purpose; this use of quotes from President Obama elevates the text and adds the expected depth that characterizes this outstanding series. Illustrations evoke warmth and a sense of purpose with lush colors and emotional tones. Source notes encourage further exploration of this highly influential figure in history. VERDICT A very successful biography that portrays a purpose-driven life fueled from Obama's early years to the White House; the text captures the energy and passion of a man who broke barriers and changed history.--John Scott
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
President Barack Obama's path through life has been anything but linear. This picture-book biography in verse relates how "Barry" (as he was known in childhood), who was born to a white woman from Kansas and a Black Kenyan father, began to explore his racial identity at an early age. He increasingly felt like an outsider as he moved from Hawaii to Indonesia and back again. In early adulthood, he spent time in big cities on the U.S. mainland ("I came home in Chicago") and, realizing that his unique background was an asset to the community, began to organize, which led to the start of his political career. Chronicling his personal life, political rise, and presidency in a style both poetic and informative, Rappaport offers a narrative that emphasizes themes of community and perseverance. Engel's paintings effectively complement the text, with dynamic colors capturing the energy of Obama's journey. Select quotes about both his political and personal achievements, peppered throughout the text, add richness. With a detailed timeline and bibliography, this is a strong narrative that is equal parts biography and tribute to a man who discovered that his uniqueness was precisely what qualified him to serve others. Eboni NjokuMarch/April 2025 p.101 (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 respectful profile of Barack Obama, from childhood to the White House. Readers will have to learn elsewhere that Obama is still alive and a public figure, since the appended timeline ends in 2017, before much of the intended audience was born. Rappaport's narrative ends even earlier than that, with approving references to his overseeing the 2011 assassination of Osama Bin Laden and the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) executive order. Still, along with laying out major events in his life (so far) in a narrative punctuated by direct quotes, she does illuminate some nuances in his character. She notes that he lived comfortably in Indonesia rather than in "hovels" like many of his neighbors and that he didn't have the smoothest relationship with his distant, autocratic birth father. More significantly, the author links early lessons in Civil Rights history from Obama's mother ("Five days a week, at four in the morning") and guidance in treating others with compassion from his loving adoptive father. She also links his resolution of his early confusion about his own racial identity to his later firm, principled commitment to equality across lines of race and social class in the face of determined opposition from Republican opponents and "vicious assaults" from the media. Flashing that wide smile from an early age, he cuts a dignified figure in Engel's illustrations, both in cozy family settings and posing before racially diverse crowds. Further cements the 44th U.S. president's status as a strong role model and an admirable human being. (author's and illustrator's notes, selected bibliography, source notes)(Picture-book biography. 6-9) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
