Review by Booklist Review
Eloquent free verse poems recall pivotal events in the life of Maya Angelou: from a crying baby to tall tales told at her grandmother's store to books borrowed from the white school; from sexual assault at age seven (referenced as "her mother's boyfriend / hurt her body, hurt her soul") to her five years of silence to her recovery through poetry. Angelou, for whom words and voice held powerful meaning, forged a lifelong career as a singer, poet, and author in Harlem, Ghana, and around the world. Coretta Scott King Award winner and Newbery Honor Book author Watson emphasizes how Angelou used her talents for civil rights and social justice to lift up others and, ultimately, herself. In Collier's signature collage artwork, color, patterns, and imagery also carry meaning and allude to Angelou's memoirs. Layered illustrations reinforce the weight of words--and their absence. Perhaps the most evocative image is a large depiction of young Maya's face, cast in blue and spanning two double-page spreads. Despite the symbolic bars that cage her, in her mind rests a bird waiting to take flight, and her mouth is a bloom waiting to open. A concluding time line sums up many of the highlighted events. This exquisite tribute to one of America's most influential poets arrives just in time for young people to celebrate Angelou's appearance on the quarter.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In allusive biographical poems that focus on their subject's developing voice, Watson recounts the life of activist and author Maya Angelou (1928--2014), beginning with her St. Louis birth as Marguerite Annie Johnson and ending with her reading at Bill Clinton's 1993 presidential inauguration. Evocative lines detail Angelou's time living across the U.S. and Ghana, her five years of silence following the childhood assault that "hurt her body, hurt her soul," and the gradual development of her voice and love for poetry ("Once you start speaking again,/ ain't nobody gonna be able to shut you up," her Momma Annie says). Collier's richly textured assemblage of collage and watercolor employs light, pattern, and subtle imagery that add depth to every image as Angelou is shown maturing into an adult, working alongside peers in the struggle for freedom (including "Brother Jimmy, Brother Martin"), and writing toward the publication of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Concluding with a close-up image of Angelou and an affirmation ("She alone was enough"), this is a thoughtfully rendered biography of a dazzling figure. A biographical timeline and creators' notes conclude. Ages 4--8. (Sept.)
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Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 2--6--This in-depth biography in poems, with unsurpassable watercolor and collage illustrations, begins with Angelou's birth in 1928 and concludes with her delivering a poem at Bill Clinton's 1993 inauguration. Readers will gain an understanding of Angelou from her childhood experiences, excerpts of her writing, and adult accomplishments and friendships (with, for example, James Baldwin, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X). Though many details of her life story are not included, readers will be curious to learn more about this captivating person. Collier uses a dim blue-gray to reflect negative events and the feelings that accompany them: at times throughout Angelou's life, "Sometimes bad things happen./ Sometimes darkness comes." "Word-seeds" and poetry pull Angelou from her silence so she can make her voice heard, and the colors lighten correspondingly. Angelou moved and traveled frequently, from a San Francisco nightclub to Harlem's Apollo to a market in Accra, Ghana; Collier's striking market scene uses collage to emphasize foods and fabrics. Portraits of Angelou herself show her solemn, thoughtful, and powerful throughout, finally smiling broadly on the final page. Includes a time line, author's note, and illustrator's note. VERDICT Poetic and superbly illustrated, this tour de force belongs in every library.--Jenny Arch
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Review by Horn Book Review
In free-verse poems, Watson describes key experiences in Maya Angelou's life. She highlights influential family members, such as Maya's brother (a source of strength) and Momma (grandmother and shrewd store owner) as well as historical figures such as Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., close friends in her adult life who invite her to speak, write, and work toward the cause of freedom for all. Watson doesn't shy away from addressing tough topics, including Maya at age seven being attacked by her mother's boyfriend, which left her mute for years. Collier's accomplished illustrations have a strong narrative pull. Two spreads are particularly compelling. "Caged In" zooms in on the top half of Maya's face, enlarged to show eyes full of pain, with a cage and shadow of a bird, while the following spread shows the bottom half of that same face with her mouth encircled by a lotus-like flower and that cage imprisoning her words. Both illustrations are drenched in the blue of sadness that Collier describes in his illustrator's note. This eloquent picture book is a portrait of a resilient woman with a deep capacity for using words to find hope in the world. Sylvia Vardell November/December 2022 p.113(c) Copyright 2022. 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 loving tribute in free verse to a writer who found her home, and herself, in her words. "Once you start speaking again, / ain't nobody gonna be able to shut you up." Filling out a biographical framework that begins in 1928 with the birth of Marguerite Annie Johnson into a loving family and ends in 1993 with her reading at President Bill Clinton's first inauguration, Watson chronicles poet Maya Angelou's travels from St. Louis to California, Ghana to Harlem and links with friends like "Jimmy" Baldwin, as well as the way she gathered "word-seeds" even through the years of silence after "her mother's boyfriend / hurt her body, hurt her soul." In his painted collages, Collier alludes to that silence with a broad, striped ribbon across closed lips in the course of portraying his subject with the same look of dignified reserve throughout her growth from infancy to adulthood. Using a slowly brightening palette, he surrounds her throughout with similarly brown faces until closing with a final bright, smiling solo close-up: "No holding her head down, no hiding. No more silence. / She didn't have the pitch-perfect voice others had, / but she had her songs, her stories." In their notes, Watson and Collier both speak to the inspirational power of Angelou's persistence and courage. (This book was reviewed digitally.) A soaring portrait of a "Black girl whose voice / chased away darkness, ushered in light." (timeline) (Picture-book biography. 7-10) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
