jillybean02's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
Great book for looking at your Harare and one’s inner self. This book inspires one to look on the inside to find your inner beauty and be happy with who you are and what you came from.
kwbat12's review against another edition
4.0
I liked the message, that black is beautiful. It was an interesting story about a blackbird painting all of the other birds with a black mix because they wanted it so much. It was a nice little story.
seaofthesun14's review against another edition
4.0
Plot Summary:
This fictional picture book conveys a powerful message to all sorts of readers. After all the colorful birds in Africa admire Blackbird for being the only bird who is black and select him as being the most beautiful of them all, the blackless birds beg Blackbird to paint them with a touch of his black. Although Blackbird tells them that true beauty comes from the inside, the birds insist and Blackbird generously shares some of his blackening by decorating black markings on the other birds.
Critical Analysis:
Because the story is a Zambian tale, the setting is a lake surrounded by trees in Africa and the characters are birds of all shapes, sizes, and colors. Only two birds are named which are Ringdove and Blackbird. Ringdove is the bird who calls all the birds from all over to meet for a festival and is the first to plead Blackbird for a bit of his blackening. Blackbird is the only black bird of all the birds in the gathering and is admired for his unique blackness. All the other birds with distinct characteristics and attributes interact with Blackbird by singing him praises and asking also for some of his blackening. Although the story is not rich in cultural details, it does include two cultural markers. In the story, the blackless birds dance the Beak and Wing Dance, the Show Claws Dance, the Sun-Up Dance, and the Sun-Down Dance. Since the bird dances are illustrated with the birds circling around Blackbird, it is a cultural marker of the African culture because this form of dance is at times seen in some traditional African dances. Another cultural marker in the story is the use of rhymes and sound effects that produce rhythm, which usually accompany African dances.
Because the theme is a celebration of diversity, uniqueness, and individual beauty, the story invites readers to reflect in-depth and value their own inner beauty and differentness. The illustrations in this book correlate well with the theme of the story because they are colorfully appealing with bright and bold colors. The cutouts of the birds are all the colors of the rainbow, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, and black, which once again stresses the message that different is beautiful. The illustrations are also accurate portrayals of the African culture because the environment is depicted with cutouts of trees and a lake and the dances are pictured with the birds dancing around in a circle like traditional African dances. All in all, I highly recommend for this book to be read to all children so that they can learn that beauty comes from the inside and that what makes them different makes them beautiful.
This fictional picture book conveys a powerful message to all sorts of readers. After all the colorful birds in Africa admire Blackbird for being the only bird who is black and select him as being the most beautiful of them all, the blackless birds beg Blackbird to paint them with a touch of his black. Although Blackbird tells them that true beauty comes from the inside, the birds insist and Blackbird generously shares some of his blackening by decorating black markings on the other birds.
Critical Analysis:
Because the story is a Zambian tale, the setting is a lake surrounded by trees in Africa and the characters are birds of all shapes, sizes, and colors. Only two birds are named which are Ringdove and Blackbird. Ringdove is the bird who calls all the birds from all over to meet for a festival and is the first to plead Blackbird for a bit of his blackening. Blackbird is the only black bird of all the birds in the gathering and is admired for his unique blackness. All the other birds with distinct characteristics and attributes interact with Blackbird by singing him praises and asking also for some of his blackening. Although the story is not rich in cultural details, it does include two cultural markers. In the story, the blackless birds dance the Beak and Wing Dance, the Show Claws Dance, the Sun-Up Dance, and the Sun-Down Dance. Since the bird dances are illustrated with the birds circling around Blackbird, it is a cultural marker of the African culture because this form of dance is at times seen in some traditional African dances. Another cultural marker in the story is the use of rhymes and sound effects that produce rhythm, which usually accompany African dances.
Because the theme is a celebration of diversity, uniqueness, and individual beauty, the story invites readers to reflect in-depth and value their own inner beauty and differentness. The illustrations in this book correlate well with the theme of the story because they are colorfully appealing with bright and bold colors. The cutouts of the birds are all the colors of the rainbow, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, and black, which once again stresses the message that different is beautiful. The illustrations are also accurate portrayals of the African culture because the environment is depicted with cutouts of trees and a lake and the dances are pictured with the birds dancing around in a circle like traditional African dances. All in all, I highly recommend for this book to be read to all children so that they can learn that beauty comes from the inside and that what makes them different makes them beautiful.
rainbowbookworm's review against another edition
3.0
The story is okay, but I was impressed that the illustration were collages.
melaniegaum's review against another edition
5.0
I loved the illustrations in this. They were so colorful and the birds were fun different shapes and sizes. The style really reminded me of Henri Matisse's collages. The story was an explanation for how birds got their black markings, and had the message that even when we look similar we are still unique inside.
erinashems's review against another edition
4.0
This book is certainly special in the sense that it can be read on the surface as a story of a bird who shares his colors, but also from a modern racial perspective. I enjoyed the celebration of black being beautiful, instead of typical ostracism of differences that can be seen in stories. This symbolically celebrates sharing black culture with others, but remaining true to oneself:
"Well see the difference a touch of black can make. Just remember, whatever I do, I'll be me and you'll be you"
"Well see the difference a touch of black can make. Just remember, whatever I do, I'll be me and you'll be you"
theraykay's review against another edition
5.0
All the birds of Africa were just one color. When the birds voted that Blackbird was the most beautiful, they each wanted to be black. He used his blackening brew in a medicine gourd to help paint the other birds with black markings. Black is beautiful, uh-huh!