Review_CHILDREN’S
WWW.PUBLISHERSWEEKLY.COM 65Charles and Alcántara’s picture book tells a
historical tale of freedom, family, and soup
(reviewed on this page).Picture Books
The Box Turtle
Vanessa Roeder. Dial, $17.99 (40p) ISBN 978-
0-7352-3050-7
Born without a shell, Terrance the box
turtle happily makes due with a cardboard
box that kept him “dry on the soggiest
days,/ safe from the snoopiest strangers.”
When a group of bullies call the carapace
“weird,” Terrance promptly abandons it,
venturing out in search of “something
better.” Working digitally and in colored
pencil and paint, Roeder (Lucy and the
String) sweetly depicts the little green
cherub as he peers from atop a slide and
peeks inside a doghouse. He tries wearing
a mailbox, but to his chagrin “it showed
too much cheek.” A jack-in-the-box proves
deeply alarming, and a cat box just “stunk.”
When Terrance despairs, the little hermit
crab who has quietly been at his side
throughout magnanimously offers up its
own small shell, prompting Terrance to
realize that just as the crab is “more than
just a shell,” so too is he. Lesson learned,
Terrance labors with new friends to spruce
up the old box to his liking, whatever
the bullies might say. In Roeder’s skillful
hands, the little box turtle offers an inar-
guable message about the power of
friendship and the importance of working
with what one has. Ages 3–5. (Feb.)
Just Like Me
Vanessa Brantley-Newton. Knopf, $17.99
(40p) ISBN 978-0-525-58209-0
In this picture-book poetry collection,
Brantley-Newton (Grandma’s Purse) writes
in the voices of various girls, exploring
themes such as community and identity
(“I Am a Canvas”), simple pleasures
(“Summer Loves”), and unavoidable trou-
bles (“Pimples”). Ranging from a few
lines to the length of a page, the poems
are matched with bright, textured,
mixed-media illustrations featuring a
variety of girls—curly and straight
haired, ethnically diverse, blemish
dotted, glasses wearing, spunky, shy,
lonely, and empowered—in highly relat-
able moments. One standout piece, “A
Wish For Daddy,” departs from some of
the sunnier themes to address a feeling of
longing: a brown-skinned girl with braids
watches the joyful interactions between a
schoolmate and her grinning father: “She
dances on his feet/ and he tells her she’s
sweet/ I wish I had a daddy/ That would
be so neat.” Thoughtful, inclusive, and
celebratory, this collection encourages
readers to look both inward and outward,
and to use kindness as a link to “go/
higher and higher/ pulling each one up.”
Ages 4–8. (Jan.)★ Overground Railroad
Lesa Cline-Ransome, illus. by James E.
Ransome. Holiday House, $18.99 (48p)
ISBN 978-0-8234-3873-0
Warm portraiture and vivid writing by
married collaborators Cline-Ransome and
Ransome (Before She Was Harriet) mark
this story of a family’s journey north during
the Great Migration. Ruthie narrates; she
and her Mama and Daddy are leaving the
fields of North Carolina for New York
City aboard the Silver Meteor: “No more
working someone else’s land,” Mama says.
When the train crosses from the segregated
South into the North, porters tell “everyone
in the colored section/ to sit where they
want.” Some white passengers put their
hands over empty seats, but the three find
“smiles/ from new neighbors.” Ransome
renders the scenes realistically in bold
colors, strong lines, and delicate collage-
like patterns. He moves in close to capture
Ruthie’s serious gaze and her parents’ gentle
exchange. Ruthie’s teacher has given her acopy of Narrative of the Life of Frederick
Douglass, and Ruthie is quick to perceive
the parallels: “a boy/ leaving behind what
he knew/ and heading to what he don’t/
just like me.” The journey is seen through
the eyes of richly developed characters
drawn with care and sympathy. Ages 4–8.
(Jan.)Facts vs. Opinions vs. Robots
Michael Rex. Penguin/Paulsen, $17.99 (32p)
ISBN 978-1-9848-1626-9
“Do you know the difference between a
fact and an opinion?” Rex (Eat Pete!) creates
an essential picture book for the times, with
a cast of digitally rendered robots as his
eager-eyed, rambunctious object lessons.
First introducing a yellow, a red, and a
blue robot, each with two eyes, the text
asks some follow-up questions (“Do any of
them have three eyes?... Is there a green
robot?”) by way of introducing facts as
“anything that can be proven true or
false.” Which robot is more fun than the
other two, however, is an opinion—
“something that you feel and you believe
but you cannot prove.” Though opinions
are excellent expressions of individuality,
they differ from facts. Wading out into
the murky waters of discourse, he offers
more tips. Listen to other opinions (one
robot declares that another who doesn’t
like scary movies is “a big baby”), reboot
the dialogue (“BEEP!”), and find common
ground (“I do like space movies!”). Rex
and his robots ultimately make a fun,
cogent argument for informed and civil
conversation. These robots could teach
grown-ups a thing or two. Ages 5–8. (Feb.)★ Freedom Soup
Tami Charles, illus. by Jacqueline Alcántara.
Candlewick, $16.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-7636-
8977-3
Outside, it’s a snowy New Year’s Day,
but inside, sunbeams shine through
windowpanes, and pumpkin, garlic, and
herbs synthesize with rhythmic kompa
beats as a grandmother passes down a
cultural family tradition. This year, it’s
Belle’s turn to unwrap the secrets of her
Ti Gran’s recipe for Freedom Soup, a time-
honored Haitian dish made from epis
(seasoning), marinated meats, vegetables,
and pumpkin. After the two mash, peel,
brown, slide, and dance, Ti Gran “begins
to tell a story, the same one she tells everyChildren’s/YA
continued on p. 67