Super Star Children's Book Reviews: Kamala Harris: Rooted in Justice

Welcome to the monthly children’s book review feature with a focus on diverse books here at Bird Meets Worm! My team of reviewers—Joan Charles, Laurie L. Young, Sarah Orgill—and I are so excited to be championing books celebrating everything from gender diversity, people of color, the LGBTQ community to ethnic, cultural and religious minorities, people with disabilities and developmental challenges to controversial topics, unique family situations and anything and everything I did not include. It is to say we take a rightfully broad view of diversity! We aim to shine a light on books that bring both familiar experiences to those who do not often see themselves represented in books and new experiences to those looking to expand their worldview. Here at Bird Meets Worm we believe in the power of story to build empathy and thus a better world for you and me and everyone. Look for a new review on the second Wednesday of every month.

KAMALA HARRIS: ROOTED IN JUSTICE
By Nikki Grimes • Illustrated by Laura Freeman
Non-Fiction Picture Book (ages 4-8) • 40 pages
Published by Atheneum BFYR • 2020
ISBN 978-1-5344-6267-0

Kamala Harris: Rooted in Justice is a biography of US Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris told in narration by a mother to her young daughter, who has just been told by a classmate that “girls can’t be President.”

Grimes’s light and bright text is full of momentum as it traces Harris’s life from her early childhood in California and her middle school years in Canada to her college years in Washington D.C and California thru to the present. Along the way, Harris’s diverse experiences are highlighted and celebrated, shining a light on her social activism, public service and open mind. The narration comes to a close at the moment Harris suspended her bid for the US Presidency and poses the question of whether or not she will ever reach the White House.

With rich, graphic artwork, that echoes that of Ezra Jack Keats, Kamala Harris: Rooted in Justice is an inspirational introduction to our country’s newest, ground-breaking Vice President, who we, as the audience, know does indeed reach the White House after all.

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Reviewed by: Jane Smith