Ambitious Girl

December 4, 2020

PreS-Gr 2-The niece of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris probably knows a thing or two about this topic: A girl can never be too ambitious. A young girl-she is brown-skinned, with black hair, but there is no ethnic background that is not included in the many crowd scenes of this jolly, positive book-infers from the world around her that she is too confident, too ambitious, too loud, too proud, and too confident. The quick moral? Don't let the world judge you-"You tell them who you are." The story is inclusive of all girls and some nonbinary folk in uplifting illustrations that shout the lessons, that "too" is darkly overwhelming, but women before her have opened doors. Here, also, is the quote children everywhere have been learning in this political season-"You may be the first someday, but don't be the last-make space for more!" The colors intensify throughout the story until the resonant end. VERDICT A welcome addition to any library collection; the endpapers full of affirmations would make a wonderful poster for any wall.-Andrea Pavlik, Huntington Public Library, NY

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 18, 2021
Harris and Valdez’s appreciable celebration of female ambition begins with a televised broadcast of a Black female speaker being labeled “too assertive, too persistent, too ambitious, too loud.” In Valdez’s bright, largely unlined art, a brown-skinned girl, who walks up the street with three older Black women, is not discouraged by what she sees. Though she sometimes hears “you’re ‘too that’ or you’re ‘too this,’ ” her mother explains that historical figures, shown in a navy wash, “have opened so many doors,” paving the way for this child’s hopes and desires to flourish. The same words once used to criticize the televised woman are seen in a new, positive light by book’s end: digital art shows the girl taking a stage of her own, where she proudly exclaims that she, too, is “AMBITIOUS!” Ages 4–8.

January 1, 2021
Grades K-3 Harris' empowering picture book about overcoming obstacles to reach a goal stars an irrepressible Black girl who finds strength in various role models. Blocky, charcoal-colored fonts, saying ""too loud,"" ""too persistent,"" ""too ambitious,"" and ""too too too"" are dismaying to the girl, but soft shades and expressive fonts gradually overtake those scenes with encouraging language alongside images of strong, powerful women. Bolstered by the strong women in her family, the little girl finds confidence, and the joy is palpable as women of all backgrounds crowd together in warm scenes in cheery yellows, oranges, and purples. Together they tackle barriers by bringing forth their collective sunshine. This invigorating girl-power story demonstrates that overcoming prejudice is possible with confidence and support, and it nicely emphasizes the positive connotations of words that often are applied to women in a negative way. The lively illustrations show a wide, inclusive array of women and girls, and the narrator, with her bouncy, tight curls and confident stature, steals the spotlight. An optimistic and refreshing call to unity and social justice.

COPYRIGHT(2021) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

A little girl tells readers--and herself--all about the importance of being ambitious. The story starts with a wordless illustration of a little brown-skinned girl with textured black curls stopping to watch television sets displayed in a store window. The TVs display a Black woman confidently speaking at a microphone. But while the girl appears impressed, the television commentators are not. They call the politician too "assertive," "ambitious," "confident," and "proud." The little girl looks devastated, but the politician on TV is not. In response to this criticism, she declares that no one can define us and that it's up to us to define ourselves. The remaining pages are a poetic ode to ambition, beginning with the girl's own insecurities about being told, repeatedly, to be quieter, duller, or more patient. Like the politician she admires on TV, the unnamed protagonist does not let this criticism stop her. Instead, she reflects on what she has--her supportive family, for example, and ambitious women who've gone before (depicted as the suffragists, Shirley Chisholm, and Mae Jemison)--and who she wants to be. Generally, the rhyming text is buoyant with hope, although some concepts feel on the abstract side for children: "And if we fail, it's a chance to disrupt." The soft watercolor illustrations amplify the book's underlying messages of love and hope, filling the backgrounds with a multiracial cast of women diverse in age, sexuality, ethnicity, and ability. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10.7-by-16.4-inch double-page spreads viewed at 45.1% of actual size.) An inspiring, rhyming ode to female ambition. (author's note) (Picture book. 4-8)

COPYRIGHT(2021) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. (Online Review)

January 1, 2021
A young girl with brown skin sees a confident Black woman on TV. Judgments blare out from the screen: "Too confident / Too ambitious / Too proud." The woman faces out, as if addressing the girl: "Don't let anyone tell you who you are. You tell them who you are." In a rhyming first-person text, the girl expands on the mixed messages she receives when she speaks her truth. She takes strength from women in her family and from the "...sisters, aunties, mothers / �who] have opened so many doors." Valdez's energetic illustrations expand on the text's girl-power message. An author's note alludes to criticism of "one of the women in our family" (VP Kamala Harris, who's not named) as the book's spark.

(Copyright 2021 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)