The barbershop, and the power of being seen as a black boy beyond stereotypeįrom the Kirkus starred review, “This book oozes It’sĪbout that time honored tradition for black folks of sitting in the chair at Show up and show out for black kids, black culture and black language. Not just a pleasure to read, it also does something important, and that is to The Society of Illustrators Annual Exhibition Gold Medal Award. Jack Keats New Writer Award, the Ezra Jack Keats New Illustrator Honor Award, and Winner of seven prestigious awards: a Caldecott Honor Award, a Newbery HonorĪward, both Coretta Scott King Illustrator and Author Honor Awards, the Ezra The Horn Book Magazine, the News & Observer, BookPage, and the Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, the Los It was included in 20 “Best of 2017” book lists, including NPR, Huffington Post, The reader must turn the book, standing it up to feel as tall as the narrator as he walks out of the shop.Ĭrown earned four Starred Reviews: from Kirkus, Publisher’s Weekly, School Library Then, on the last spread of the book, the illustration is rendered horizontally. The artist’s love and appreciation for the place shines through in his expressive paintings. The barber featured cuts James’s son’s hair. On the children’s literature blog The Brown Bookshelf, James describes his process of “casting” the book with real people from his own neighborhood barbershop. Even with these fantastical flourishes, James’s illustrations feel real. On multiple pages, and most prominently on the cover, James surrounds characters’ heads with radiating lines or symbols in a halo effect, “crowning” them with pride. James’s oil paintings have a wonderful tactile quality and sense of movement. Together with the narrator we all feel, “Magnificent.Ĭrown’s illustrations burst with confidence and swagger.

Imagine along with the narrator to feel “intellectual,” like a “brilliant,īlazing star,” “so FLY!” His carefully chosen descriptive details expertly evokeĪ shared experience, and his use of the second person pulls the reader along to The barber’s handheld mirror, he smiles because, “That’s the you that you loveĮxpressive language, Barnes’s poetic picture book debut invites the reader to Girls, an extra compliment from his mother. While the barberĭoes his methodical work, the boy imagines all that might come when he stepsīack out into the street: an A on his test, admiring glances and whispers from

The shop, appreciating each one’s individual style and swagger.

During his turn in the chair, he surveys the adults in Young African-American boy visits his neighborhood shop and leaves the troubles That comes from a trip to the barbershop. ISBN 1572842245Ĭrown taps into the magical feeling of renewed confidence

Crown an ode to the fresh cut