March 15, 2019
Grades 5-8 Photographer Parker serves up a sequel of sorts to her book about girls, Strong Is the New Pretty (2017), with this ambitious photographic survey of boys, who range in age from 4 through 19. There are photos of some 200 of them in this album, divided into stereotype-�defying categories that relate to conditions of the heart. The French philosopher Pascal once said, The heart has its reasons that the mind cannot know, and these photographs inarguably appeal more to sensibility than sense, offering plenty of awww moments, especially the photos of four- and five-year-olds. The categories ostensibly offer aspects of the heart ranging from joyful to playful, from resilient to curious, from vulnerable to expressive, but these labels often seem arbitrary. No matter, though, for the photos speak for themselves, as do the boys, whose self-aware thoughts accompany their beautifully realized portraits Beautifully designed, this book is a feast for browsers. And that's no small matter.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)
July 1, 2019
Striking portraits of boys, ages four to nineteen, are paired with brief quotes from the subjects; the whole provides insight into the variety of ways (western) boys see and express themselves. Lack of information (beyond the quotes) about the individuals is disappointing, but the book's value comes from the expansive definition of boyhood.
(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)