Thursday 3 August 2023

Non-Fiction Book Review - 'Stacey's Extraordinary Words' by Stacey Abrams (Writer), Kitt Thomas (Illustrator)

I read 'Stacey's Remarkable Books' first. While I personally don't find 'Stacey's Extraordinary Words' to be quite as compelling, it is still an important biographical picture book for children to read and learn from.

Important lessons and arcs - progression - are threaded throughout. It is about words and spelling bees, and how much Stacey Abrams has always loved them, and wanted to know everything about every word since school. It is also about bullying, particularly racist bullying. But 'Stacey's Extraordinary Words' remains cute and ever-so hopeful on the whole.

Like 'Stacey's Remarkable Books', the artwork is adorable, colourful, lush and beautiful. Unlike 'Stacey's Remarkable Books', it contains word balloons on a few pages, like a comic book. It just adds to the highly expressive visual style - even when young Stacey sounds out and spells words.

'Stacey's Extraordinary Words' - a gift of a picture book. Intelligent, easy to digest, diverse, dazzling, bonny, and passionate. It is a strong feminist read - including a beautiful, wonderful mother-and-daughter bond. Stacey and her mum are the best.

Terrific. Inspiring.

Final Score: 4/5

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