Starred review from April 1, 2023
K-Gr 4-The theory behind this idyllic book is that grandmothers can handle it. "If you up to mischief, they will pick you up swiftly in their sweet rides and look at you until you catch shame./ She will ask you if you are hungry and you say yes and of course you are." The squad cars are cool, and the grandmothers-here Black and brown women with white hair and large hats, acquainted with Civil Rights icons as well as what troubles young hearts-have tables where good food fills up hungry stomachs, and any wildness is taken apart with love and understanding. "The grandmas are the original warriors, wild since birth, loving fiercely./ They have fought so you don't have to, / Not in the same ways, at least." There will be no precincts, nor will there be arrest records, incarceration instead of reason, and the wholesale condemning of children's souls to a system that controls through fear. Watercolorlike illustrations in close to neon shades show city scenes and a wide array of humanity, some of whom are using wheelchairs, some skipping along. Overhead shots of a table laden with food to fill up bellies till the "soul arrives" demonstrates the connection between want and the breaking down of law. Homage to historic leaders blends as smoothly as the colors of the rainbow-filled scenes, paving the way for readers to conclude that the humor of the title has wisdom as well. VERDICT A reverie of a book, offering criticism delivered with honey about our current state of affairs. It's not at all as far-fetched as it sounds.-Kimberly Olson Fakih
Copyright 2023 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
Starred review from May 1, 2023
Lush, luminous, and celebratory, the words and images of this poem turned picture book offer a powerful meditation on intergenerational bonds and community care. In jewel-bright illustrations, Uroda interprets Petrus’s vision of grandmothers as peacekeepers who drive “badass” classic cars, play “old-school jams” including Patti LaBelle and Stevie Wonder, and who—in response to trouble—“will pick you up swiftly in their sweet rides and look at you until you catch shame,” then “ask you if you are hungry.” In this moving portrait of a precinct-free world, there are, instead, “just love temples with spaces to meditate and eat delicious food.” There, grandmas, who help with homework and pass on various lessons, ensure that “All the hungry bellies will know warmth. All the children will expect love.” Sun-splashed and star-strewn scenes depict a brown-skinned cast of grandmothers, who present across ages and gender expressions, capturing the vivacious energy of elders “comfortable in loving fiercely” that’s reflected in the language’s soaring weightlessness. Ages 4–8.
Starred review from February 1, 2023
This picture book based on Petrus' poem, written in the wake of the 2014 shooting of Michael Brown, asks: What if grandmothers replaced the police who patrol American neighborhoods? Petrus and Uroda paint a lively, upbeat, attitude-filled portrait of matriarchs cruising neighborhoods in "badass" vintage squad cars, playing awesome Afrocentric music, and picking up kids getting up to no good. A grandma peering over her glasses can make a kid "catch shame," and rather than locking them up, grandmas would take kids home, feed them, cook and meditate with them, help them with homework, and love them up. Taking readers into Black kitchens, gardens, bedrooms, and other loving spaces, this book offers a village solution to raising Black children that excludes incarceration. In one scene, a white-haired grandmother with brown skin gazes into the eyes of a brown-skinned child wearing a colorful head wrap, and as she holds the child's cheeks, she acknowledges "the light in you with no hesitation" because "she loves you fiercely forever." Unconditional love and community-based care lie at the heart of this radical and linguistically delicious picture book that invites conversations about relationships in communities of color. Uroda's luminous illustrations capture the verve, courage, and sensuality of grandmas (who sometimes look like grandpas--a nod to gender inclusivity and complex grand-families); the richness of Black and brown communities; and the resources they possess to heal their own wounds. (This book was reviewed digitally.) A refreshing homage to the power of intergenerational relationships and potent alternative to policing. (Picture book. 7-14)
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