english
Infant & Up
Black Boy Joy
Poetry
Board Books
Ruth Forman & Geneva Bowers
summary
The sequel to Curls is here!! This sweet and poetic board book follows a young boy coming home from playing, taking a bath, and snuggling into bed. The language is beautiful, and the illustrations joyful, comfortable, and warm. Under the light of a full moon, the main character takes his bath time to relax and enjoy how he too, shines like the night. It’s so tricky to give a lengthy review of a board book, because I don’t want to give too much away, but this is the perfect follow-up to Curls.
I sound like a broken record at this point, but we need books that prioritize joy and happiness just as much as, if not even more, than books that expand on the historic atrocities and marginalization of the global majority due to colonialism. If we begin reading and celebrating books that teach a foundation of joy and recognition of privilege, perhaps we can combat anti-Blackness in media while working for even greater change elsewhere in society.
This book was kindly sent by Simon & Schuster, but all opinions are my own. This book is out TODAY!
Ruth Forman
Ruth Forman is the author of the board books Curls and Glow (Simon & Schuster, 2020 & 2021). She is an award-winning author of the poetry collections Prayers Like Shoes (Whit, 2009), Renaissance (Beacon, 1997), and We Are the Young Magicians (Beacon, 1993) as well as the children’s book Young Cornrows Callin Out the Moon (Children’s Book Press, 2007).
Ruth has received the Barnard New Women Poets Prize, The Pen Oakland Josephine Miles Literary Award, The Durfee Artist Fellowship, DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Artist Fellowships, the National Council of Teachers of English Notable Book Award, and recognition by The American Library Association. She provides writing workshops at retreats, schools and universities across the country and abroad, and has presented in forums such as the United Nations, the PBS series The United States of Poetry and National Public Radio.
Ruth is a former teacher of creative writing with the University of Southern California and June Jordan’s Poetry for the People program at UC Berkeley, as well as a fourteen-year faculty member with the VONA-Voices writing program. Also an MFA graduate of the University of Southern California School of Cinema-Television, she often collaborates on film, music, dance, theatre, art and media projects. She is currently a professor at the Bread Loaf School of English at Middlebury College. When not writing and teaching, she practices a passion for martial arts: classical Yang family style tai chi chuan, tai chi sword, and bo staff. Ms. Forman currently lives in Washington, DC.
Geneva Bowers
Geneva Bowers is a self-taught illustrator based in Western North Carolina. Geneva loves manipulating color and adding whimsy with a touch of realism and calm.