Be Boy Buzz - Hardcover

Hooks, Bell

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0786808144 ISBN 13: 9780786808144

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2002

Synopsis

"I be boy. All bliss boy. All fine beat. All beau boy. Beautiful." Famed author bell hooks infuses a sparse and joyous text with the essence and energy of what it means to be a boy-- all boy. Chris Raschka's sentient illustrations buzz with a force that is the perfect match for this powerful poetry.

About this title

About the Author:

A world-renowned cultural critic, feminist theorist, and intellectual, bell hooks is a distinguished author and professor of English. She has written several acclaimed children's books including Be Boy Buzz , Skin Again and Happy to Be Nappy, all illustrated by Chris Raschka.


Chris Raschka is the Caldecott-Award-winning illustrator of The Hello Goodbye Window and A Ball for Daisy. He also received a Caldecott Honor for Yo! Yes? and has written and illustrated numerous books for children, among them three by bell hooks. He lives with his wife and son in New York City.

From Publishers Weekly:

This stunning volume celebrates all things boy. The creators of Happy to Be Nappy set the stage with the bold opening sortie: "I be boy" appears on the left of the spread, paired with a deceptively simple layering of rectangles in blue line that pulsates on the page; opposite, a thoughtful-looking fellow, all elbows and knees slightly bent, seems poised for action. This spare, poetic riff on young manhood plumbs the delights and contradictions of what it means to be a boy particularly an African-American boy in a brief handful of sentences and with a few well-placed pastel lines that imply motion and emotion. From boys soaring ("All bliss boy") to boys sulking ("All bad boy beast" here Raschka conveys the mood with just the right-hand side of a furrowed brow, and two arms seemingly blocking readers from view), at play ("I be boy jumping") and at rest ("all think and dream time"), the words pinpoint boyhood's unflagging energy and exuberance, vulnerability ("Hug me close. Don't let me down") and attitude. Hooks's rhythmic blend of brevity and eloquence launches Raschka's trademark visual haiku. His series of watercolor and pastel portraits set off against a warm cappuccino backdrop conjures fingers and toes, features and squiggles of hair from simple sweeps of his brush, and evokes characters suffused with humanity and tenderness. The graceful design visually balances the spare text, lively portraits and geometric graphics which harmoniously orbit the spreads. This life-affirming book will have readers as much "in love with being a boy" as are its own utterly irresistible characters. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0786808144
• ISBN 13: 9780786808144
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Raschka Chris