Nelson Mandela

Nelson's (I Have a Dream) large, luminous, and almost photographic paintings make this an extremely powerful picture-book biography of South Africa's first black president. The wordless cover alone is arresting, as an older Mandela gazes serenely at readers (the book's title and Nelson's author/illustrator credit appear on the back). From a silhouette of Mandela (born Rolihlahla, which means "troublemaker") as a boy play fighting with sticks on a country hillside to a portrait of him as a bearded young man staring out from behind prison bars, Nelson's pictures are an immediate focal point, but also help tell the story. The straightforward narrative is broken up like verse ("The state vowed to put Nelson in jail/ and he went underground./ He wore different disguises/ and lived in the shadows"), clearly explaining the concept of apartheid and the efforts of Mandela and others to fight it. Concluding author notes offer more details about Mandela's life. It's a solid biography in its own right, but thanks to Nelson's characteristically stunning paintings, it soars. Ages 4-8. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (Jan.)

Gr 1-5—This picture-book biography matches Mandela's outsize achievements with large, powerful images, resulting in a presentation that will seize and hold readers' attention. The front cover features a portrait of Mandela that fills the space. His pleasant but determined expression immediately projects a sense of strength. The title and author move to the back cover so as not to compete with the opening image. A stark graphic design incorporating black, green, yellow, and red, colors from the South African flag, on the title page helps set the stage for the narrative. Nelson's paintings range from poignant, when Mandela's mother tells him good-bye as he leaves home for more education at the age of nine, to exuberant, when Mandela and 100 men arrested for protesting apartheid respond by dancing and singing, to inspiring, when people organize rallies demanding his release. When freedom finally comes, "a colorful sea of people" celebrate. Mandela's heroic struggle might be new to many children today, and Nelson's dynamic treatment provides enough detail to give a sense of the man and to acknowledge his important place in history.—Lucinda Snyder Whitehurst, St. Christopher's School, Richmond, VA