When I move

This is a picture book tailor-made for storytime: Weatherford's succinct first-person text makes great use of repetition, as well as end rhymes that beg for children's voices to complete. Well-paced page-turns at the line breaks in each sentence heighten anticipation at each beat in the rhythm. The book's first lines read: "When I swim, / I become a fish. / When I jump, / I become a wish." Marley's illustrations follow the text, moving from a concrete depiction of a Black girl swimming at the shore with a parent to a more imaginative depiction of her swimming underwater with outlined fish sketched around her; showing the same child jumping at the park, then against a fantastical background of stars and foliage as she leaps through the air, no ground visible beneath her feet. The style combines the retro feel of art by Gyo Fujikawa or Aliki with a contemporary flair. Words and pictures combine to embrace the whole child, moving her body and moving through life -- outdoors, inside, at home, at school. The repeating pattern of the refrain ("When I..., / I become...") infuses the narration with possibility, and pictures meet that voice to present a confident, capable, joyful, creative Black girl, self-assured and in community with others. Celebratory and, yes, moving. Megan Dowd LambertMay/June 2025 p.76 (c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

A child's simple movements add up to something far greater than the sum of their parts. Prolific and award-winning author Weatherford lends a poetic, lyrical hand to this tale that follows a brown-skinned youngster who swims, jumps, and bounces through life. These actions are all rife with meaning. "When I score, I become the cheers," the young narrator proclaims, and "When I dance, I become the beat." The repeated sentence structure and rhyming phrases make this an effective read-aloud just right for little listeners. With rosy cheeks and a head full of curly hair, the protagonist is drawn mostly in exuberant motion. A rainbow blur accompanies the child on a bike ride ("When I bike, / I become the gears"), and a swirl of air surrounds a ball that the youngster throws across the page. While some of the actions show the child engaged in a physical activity, others are more symbolic: "When I lift, I become the strength," the child notes while helping a teary-eyed, light-skinned youngster with a scraped knee. And perhaps the most affecting of all: "When I move, I'm a force so free-- // I feel the planet move with me." Pleasing poetry paired with compelling images of a childhood lived in motion.(Picture book. 3-6) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.