Beauty Woke

March 25, 2022

K-Gr 2-Ramos (Your Mama) continues to celebrate the strength and beauty of women and girls in a modern tale reminiscent of Sleeping Beauty. Surrounded by love even before she is born, Beauty is raised on a steady dose of family and pride in her Puerto Rican heritage and community. When Beauty hears racist comments on television directed at people who look like her and her family, she questions her sense of identity and self-worth, which are eventually restored by those she loves and who love her. Escobar's vivid, detailed illustrations are a feast for the eyes. The text is a lyrical mix of English and Spanish, blended beautifully; this is not a text that rhymes, but it is solidly rhythmic and engaging. It's ideal for read-alouds, and may resonate even more for parents than with their young children. VERDICT Invite readers to listen in on a tale for fans of fractured fairy tales and the trickster tales of Yuyi Morales. A recommended purchase for libraries serving young children.-Monisha Blair

Copyright 2022 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from December 1, 2021
What is beauty? Who is Beauty? A puzzled young Boricua wants to know. Is it true what the media says? Are her people "DANGEROUS / DIRTY / LAZY"? What about the blood of her African ancestors that runs through her veins and that Abuela describes as "onyx"? Doesn't the pride of her Ta�no heritage mean anything? Beauty sees her people marching proudly in parades. She hears Abuela teaching her the truth of her identity, but the reality of the outside world weighs her down, and she runs. Embarrassed, she doubts her worth and wonders why she can't be like everyone else, even rejecting her gold hoops and her durags adorned with the Puerto Rican flag: "�QU� EMBARAZOSO!" Her family knows that Beauty is lost and that her "eyes were open, / but she was sleepwalkin'." Her Mami rallies the family for an emergency schooling session. Under the powerful hands of la bisabuela, vecinos, and familia, "Beauty was WOKE." Ramos' poetic ode to identity and validation winds itself through evocative imagery in both English and Spanish, connecting the strength of community with self-acceptance. From one-word stanzas echoing with a mother's heartbeat to flowing anthems of pride, each page exudes energy and passion. Escobar's powerful panorama of diversity is a blazing exclamation point to Beauty's triumphant journey. This bold manifesto of cultural awareness reaches out to awaken the sleepwalkers among us. (Picture book. 6-10)

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Starred review from January 1, 2022
Grades K-3 *Starred Review* This ode to Puerto Rican culture and Black pride opens as Beauty's parents prepare for her birth. More than anything, they want their daughter to be safe and loved, so once she is born, they surround her with family and their rich culture. They teach her to become bilingual in English and Spanish and they participate in the Puerto Rican Day parade while Beauty is still too little to march. As Beauty grows older, the self-confidence she was raised to feel takes a hit as she becomes aware of the hate and racism in the world around her. Quickly, her family and neighbors rally, surrounding the girl with positivity, love, and stories of her Ta�no and African heritage. They remind her that "Spanish is magic . . . / Black is beauty-ful. / Black is a power." Through these experiences, Beauty's pride and confidence in being a Boricua are restored with even greater understanding; the girl is woke. Escobar, who illustrated Anika Aldamuy Denise's acclaimed Planting Stories (2019), uses influences from graffiti and mural art in this book's illustrations, a perfect nod to the story's urban landscape. Her use of color taps into the story's emotions, and the Puerto Rican flag is woven through much of the artwork. An authentic and affirming celebration of culture, community, and self-acceptance.

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January 1, 2022
Baby Beauty's arrival into the world begins in the womb, "First there is one heart, / then two." With a metered, lyrical cadence, Ramos's text centers on the collective, enumerating how the kinship family -- from la doctora, to the espiritista, to the community at the Puerto Rican Day Parade -- envelops Beauty and her immediate family in love. As she grows up, this kinship family transmits to Beauty an understanding of her Taino, African, and Boricua ancestral ties, a deep cultural knowledge that ignites "resistance, / imagination, / hope" in Beauty. This knowledge ultimately supports her when she encounters racist language aimed at "people that looked like family." Confused and hurt, Beauty runs through her neighborhood to process the emotions of "her heart brusin' / black and blue." Escobar's digital illustrations include neighborhood murals that incorporate Taino symbols with faces of children and elders as well as Black and Brown raised fists of resistance. The concluding subsequent spreads in luminous colorful palettes show Beauty's return home, where a healing ceremony empowers her to see the beauty of her heritage.

(Copyright 2022 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)