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kitsuneheart's review against another edition
4.0
Long ago, all the birds of Africa were one solid color, and Blackbird was the most beautiful of all. After being asked by the other birds, Blackbird generously paints each bird with a little bit of black, giving them his beauty and style.
This book is an obvious allegory for African pride, at least to adults, though children may not understand the allegory. At the very least, the book is about celebrating your individuality and individual beauty, and perhaps little ones will come to see the deeper meaning as they grow older. The poetry and rhythm will capture the attention of young readers, and could prove useful in teaching to read as they grow older.
My only complaint: the artist mentions that the scissors shown on the endpapers were the ones her mother used in sewing and embroidery, and which she used in cutting the paper for the artwork. The seamstress in me cringed so bad, poor scissors. :(
This book is an obvious allegory for African pride, at least to adults, though children may not understand the allegory. At the very least, the book is about celebrating your individuality and individual beauty, and perhaps little ones will come to see the deeper meaning as they grow older. The poetry and rhythm will capture the attention of young readers, and could prove useful in teaching to read as they grow older.
My only complaint: the artist mentions that the scissors shown on the endpapers were the ones her mother used in sewing and embroidery, and which she used in cutting the paper for the artwork. The seamstress in me cringed so bad, poor scissors. :(
annalisenak97's review against another edition
4.0
Loved the cut paper illustrations and the refrain, over and over: "Black is beautiful!"
lbrauz's review against another edition
5.0
So many great lines in this book. Holden asked a lot of questions while we read it together. ❤️
goldenabs's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
5.0
Beautiful paper illustrations and sweet message. A friendly book.
Good for young artists to read, bird watchers, and people who might feel like an odd one out
Good for young artists to read, bird watchers, and people who might feel like an odd one out
kwbat12's review against another edition
4.0
I liked the message, that black is beautiful. It was an interesting story about a blackbird painting all of the other birds with a black mix because they wanted it so much. It was a nice little story.
seaofthesun14's review against another edition
4.0
Plot Summary:
This fictional picture book conveys a powerful message to all sorts of readers. After all the colorful birds in Africa admire Blackbird for being the only bird who is black and select him as being the most beautiful of them all, the blackless birds beg Blackbird to paint them with a touch of his black. Although Blackbird tells them that true beauty comes from the inside, the birds insist and Blackbird generously shares some of his blackening by decorating black markings on the other birds.
Critical Analysis:
Because the story is a Zambian tale, the setting is a lake surrounded by trees in Africa and the characters are birds of all shapes, sizes, and colors. Only two birds are named which are Ringdove and Blackbird. Ringdove is the bird who calls all the birds from all over to meet for a festival and is the first to plead Blackbird for a bit of his blackening. Blackbird is the only black bird of all the birds in the gathering and is admired for his unique blackness. All the other birds with distinct characteristics and attributes interact with Blackbird by singing him praises and asking also for some of his blackening. Although the story is not rich in cultural details, it does include two cultural markers. In the story, the blackless birds dance the Beak and Wing Dance, the Show Claws Dance, the Sun-Up Dance, and the Sun-Down Dance. Since the bird dances are illustrated with the birds circling around Blackbird, it is a cultural marker of the African culture because this form of dance is at times seen in some traditional African dances. Another cultural marker in the story is the use of rhymes and sound effects that produce rhythm, which usually accompany African dances.
Because the theme is a celebration of diversity, uniqueness, and individual beauty, the story invites readers to reflect in-depth and value their own inner beauty and differentness. The illustrations in this book correlate well with the theme of the story because they are colorfully appealing with bright and bold colors. The cutouts of the birds are all the colors of the rainbow, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, and black, which once again stresses the message that different is beautiful. The illustrations are also accurate portrayals of the African culture because the environment is depicted with cutouts of trees and a lake and the dances are pictured with the birds dancing around in a circle like traditional African dances. All in all, I highly recommend for this book to be read to all children so that they can learn that beauty comes from the inside and that what makes them different makes them beautiful.
This fictional picture book conveys a powerful message to all sorts of readers. After all the colorful birds in Africa admire Blackbird for being the only bird who is black and select him as being the most beautiful of them all, the blackless birds beg Blackbird to paint them with a touch of his black. Although Blackbird tells them that true beauty comes from the inside, the birds insist and Blackbird generously shares some of his blackening by decorating black markings on the other birds.
Critical Analysis:
Because the story is a Zambian tale, the setting is a lake surrounded by trees in Africa and the characters are birds of all shapes, sizes, and colors. Only two birds are named which are Ringdove and Blackbird. Ringdove is the bird who calls all the birds from all over to meet for a festival and is the first to plead Blackbird for a bit of his blackening. Blackbird is the only black bird of all the birds in the gathering and is admired for his unique blackness. All the other birds with distinct characteristics and attributes interact with Blackbird by singing him praises and asking also for some of his blackening. Although the story is not rich in cultural details, it does include two cultural markers. In the story, the blackless birds dance the Beak and Wing Dance, the Show Claws Dance, the Sun-Up Dance, and the Sun-Down Dance. Since the bird dances are illustrated with the birds circling around Blackbird, it is a cultural marker of the African culture because this form of dance is at times seen in some traditional African dances. Another cultural marker in the story is the use of rhymes and sound effects that produce rhythm, which usually accompany African dances.
Because the theme is a celebration of diversity, uniqueness, and individual beauty, the story invites readers to reflect in-depth and value their own inner beauty and differentness. The illustrations in this book correlate well with the theme of the story because they are colorfully appealing with bright and bold colors. The cutouts of the birds are all the colors of the rainbow, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, and black, which once again stresses the message that different is beautiful. The illustrations are also accurate portrayals of the African culture because the environment is depicted with cutouts of trees and a lake and the dances are pictured with the birds dancing around in a circle like traditional African dances. All in all, I highly recommend for this book to be read to all children so that they can learn that beauty comes from the inside and that what makes them different makes them beautiful.
rainbowbookworm's review against another edition
3.0
The story is okay, but I was impressed that the illustration were collages.
melaniegaum's review against another edition
5.0
I loved the illustrations in this. They were so colorful and the birds were fun different shapes and sizes. The style really reminded me of Henri Matisse's collages. The story was an explanation for how birds got their black markings, and had the message that even when we look similar we are still unique inside.