I'm From

Starred review from July 24, 2023
The reiterative phrase “I come from...” frames the reflections of a Black child narrator discussing their identity in this tenderly observed picture book. Pages that move throughout a day begin, “I come from/ early morning wake-ups,/ handcrafted blankets/ knitted with memories.” As the morning continues, “Have to/ beat the traffic” leads to getting out the door and boarding a school bus alongside children shown with various skin tones and hairstyles (“High fades and/ low fades,/ tight ponytails/ and laid edges”). Layered collage spreads by Caldecott Honoree Mora pulse with vibrant color and movement as the bus riders dance to “good morning beats” until the driver announces, “This bus ain’t going NOWHERE until y’all...// SITDOWN.” School represents long days (“books that don’t/ click/ with me”) as well as difficult and incessant questions (“can I touch your HAIR?/ ...you don’t sound BLACK! .../ WHERE ARE YOU FROM?”). But the child knows that “I’m from/ ...drawing my own heroes,/ writing/ my own stories.” And after school, there’s the candy store and the refuge of family: “Bear-tight cuddles,/ late-night belly laughs.” Poet Gray, making a picture book debut, models the process of, and the power in, learning that “I come from/ somewhere.” Ages 4–8.

Starred review from August 1, 2023

K-Gr 2-In a book that comes right from the heart, Gray explores a young Black boy's experience during a typical day in his neighborhood. Readers meet the unnamed main character as he is waking up to get ready for school. Throughout the day he plays with friends, attends classes, and heads to the local shop for candy. Though an uneventful day, there is an underlying message about the struggles that Black children encounter in their everyday lives. Various classmates question his voice for not sounding "Black" enough and assume he is a good basketball player. The story really shines when the boy is home with his family, where his culture is accepted, validated, and celebrated. Mora's beautiful illustrations enhance the view of the hero's environment and experiences. Although the focus of this book is on a Black family, children of all ethnicities and gender identities will be able to relate to the main character feeling out of place for something that outwardly casts him as "different" from others. VERDICT A beautiful, simple look into one child's typical experience that all readers can learn from and relate to.-Lauren White

Copyright 2023 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2023
For some, "Where are you from?" has a geographical answer, but this kid offers a thoughtful and poignant alternative perspective. As the Black narrator begins the day, waking in a toy- and book-filled room and rising from a bed covered by a tapestry that showcases the layered textured papers and gouache paints of Mora's illustrations, he recalls where--and what and who--he comes from. It's an ostensibly average day--enjoying a favorite breakfast of pan-fried bologna and pancakes with the fam, admiring the assortment of hairstyles on the school bus, from his own fade to the "laid edges" of a peer, hearing raucous kids earning a stern word from the bus driver, and making it through a long school day of learning. But the boy also encounters racialized comments--scribbled in frenetic large type across a full-page spread--from the other kids that make him visibly uncomfortable: "Can I touch your hair?" "You don't sound Black." "Where are you from?" But the answers he ultimately offers readers are as tasty as "buttermilk biscuits" or as touching as "bear-tight cuddles," as soft as pecks on the cheek or as far-reaching as the hopes and dreams of his family. (This book was reviewed digitally.) An origin story for the ages--intimate, poetic, singular, and broadly relatable. (Picture book. 4-8)

COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

September 1, 2023
Preschool-Grade 2 In daily moments--mostly happy and familiar, a few perplexing and difficult--a young boy offers cadenced lists of things (beloved objects, favorite foods and games, daily routines, oft-repeated parental phrases) that define him and his world. Many scenes including pencils and pieces of writing paper with scribbled notes and an ever-present composition-style notebook reveal the boy as a storyteller and dreamer. Multiple-award-winning illustrator Mora creates a vibrant world: double-page spreads pop with bright, detailed collages of painted and patterned paper, including well-considered swatches of printed paper (a spread with kids suffering through a long school day features a clever backdrop of completed test answer forms). Text is presented in a hand-lettered style, and key phrases are highlighted with enlarged illustrated or collaged letters. In his picture-book debut, poet Gray shines a light on a contemplative child who sees his family ethos as a place of reassurance and pride and recognizes his own belonging there as a reader and storyteller. A satisfying and affirmative read about self-awareness and family.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from September 1, 2023
"I come from / early morning wake-ups, / handcrafted blankets / knitted with memories." A young Black boy arises from his cozy bed and finds Dad in the kitchen making his favorite breakfast of pancakes and pan-fried bologna. Readers accompany the (unnamed) character as he rides the rowdy school bus, plays in the schoolyard, and endures a "looooong school day." After a visit to the neighborhood store, he returns home to his loving family and, finally, climbs back into his bed at night. While describing a seemingly ordinary routine, the lyrical text is a journey through Black language and culture, evoking a sense of identity, community, and connectedness: "Cotton candy hair / and razor-sharp lineups. / High fades and / low fades, / tight ponytails / and laid edges. / What's up, y'all?" Mora's mixed-media illustrations enhance the poetic storytelling. The colorful collage-work adds texture and motion to the pages, while selective hand-lettering emphasizes parts of the verse. On one spread that mentions microaggressions toward the narrator ("Can I touch your hair?" "Where are you from?"), the questions take over the pages, visually communicating the isolating feeling of being othered. This beautifully rendered picture book serves as a reminder of the importance of familial and cultural identity and the grounding that it offers in the wider world. Monique Harris

(Copyright 2023 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

January 1, 2024
"I come from / early morning wake-ups, / handcrafted blankets / knitted with memories." A young Black boy arises from his cozy bed and finds Dad in the kitchen making his favorite breakfast of pancakes and pan-fried bologna. Readers accompany the (unnamed) character as he rides the rowdy school bus, plays in the schoolyard, and endures a "looooong school day." After a visit to the neighborhood store, he returns home to his loving family and, finally, climbs back into his bed at night. While describing a seemingly ordinary routine, the lyrical text is a journey through Black language and culture, evoking a sense of identity, community, and connectedness: "Cotton candy hair / and razor-sharp line-ups. / High fades and / low fades, / tight ponytails / and laid edges. / What's up y'all?" Mora's mixed-media illustrations enhance the poetic storytelling. The colorful collage-work adds texture and motion to the pages, while selective hand-lettering emphasizes parts of the verse. On one spread that mentions microaggressions toward the narrator ("Can I touch your hair?" "Where are you from?"), the questions take over the pages, visually communicating the isolating feeling of being othered. This beautifully rendered picture book serves as a reminder of the importance of familial and cultural identity and the grounding that it offers in the wider world.

(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)