Be Boy Buzz - Hardcover

Hooks, Bell

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1484788400 ISBN 13: 9781484788400

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2016

Synopsis

I be boy. All bliss boy. All fine beat. All beau boy. Beautiful. Famed author bell hooks brings us a tight, exuberant story that captures the essence and energy of what it means to be a boy. Chris Raschka's soulful illustrations buzz with a force that is the perfect match for these powerful words. Praise for Be Boy Buzz: *"This spare, poetic riff on young manhood plumbs the delights and contradictions of what it means to be a boy. . . . Hooks's rhythmic blend of brevity and eloquence launches Raschka's trademark visual haiku. . . . This life-affirming book will have readers as much 'in love with being a boy' as are its own utterly irresistible characters."
-Publishers Weekly, starred review

"[The] poetry is rhythmic and rolling, each word finessed to fit the pulse of [hooks's] verse. The lilt of the language is contagious, begging to be read aloud. . . . Raschka's mixed media illustrations are an energetic dream. . . . Buy it for the boys and all those who love them."
-Bulletin for the Center of Children's Books

"[A] pleasing and affirmative visual and textual interpretation of what it means to be a little boy: be boy buzz, indeed."
-Kirkus Reviews

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.
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About this edition

• Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1484788400
• ISBN 13: 9781484788400
• Binding: Board book
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Raschka Chris