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• KIRKUS 

"A Grand Slam!"

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• 2017 JUNIOR LIBRARY GUILD SELECTION

"This uplifting account of a family and the integration of Boston baseball will be inspiring to many youngsters." 

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• BOOKLIST

"This picture book contributes to children's understanding of America's past, while telling a good story."

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• PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

"The story's moments of triumph sound the loudest notes."

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• CHILDREN'S BOOK COUNCIL

“The story is a snapshot of the Civil Rights Movement and a great discussion starter about the state of race relations in the United States today.”

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• SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL

"This uplifting account of a family and the integration of Boston baseball will be inspiring to many youngsters."

• KIRKUS

  Named one of 2018's BEST BOOKS

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• CHOSEN FOR:

• Texas Bluebonnet Master List 2019-2020

• Texas Topaz List 2019-2020

• Great Texas Mosquito List 2019-2020

• Virginia State Reading Association Choice List 2019-2020

• Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Awards Program Master List 2019-2020 

• Alabama Camellia Children's Choice Award Nominee 2019-2020

• Washington Children's Choice Picture Award Nominee 2018-2019

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• Knowledge Quest

"There are times when I read a historically based picture book and hope that I can find great primary sources to accompany it. I felt this way when I read The Boo-Boos That Changed the World written by Barry Wittenstein and illustrated by Chris Hsu. Luckily, I was not disappointed and can not wait to use these sources with my students."  

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• 2018 JUNIOR LIBRARY GUILD SELECTION

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• Publishers Weekly

"Wittenstein, who imagines the details of the exchanges between Josephine and Earle, gracefully suggests to readers that even items as enduring as the Band-Aid started out as one individual’s creative solution to a common problem." 

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• School Library Journal

“Gr 2–4—“This book tells the fascinating story of the invention of the Band-Aid in the early twentieth century with a delightful sense of humor. Josephine Dickson was particularly accident-prone in the kitchen, inspiring her husband Earle to come up with a creative solution. 

 

A running "The End" gag will make kids chuckle throughout as they will think they've reached the end of the story only to find out that it is not over yet. 

 

A funny and illuminating nonfiction entry that will hold particular appeal for aspiring inventors and future medical professionals.”

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• KIRKUS

 "An appropriately jazzy picture-book biography of African-American musician Sonny Rollins. Born and raised in Harlem, Rollins grew up at the perfect time for a jazz musician. Written in free verse that flirts with rhyme, the text moves through measures and beats like the up-and-down swings of jazz."

• Publishers Weekly

 "This insightful biography of Sonny Rollins ... fluidly provides historical context while exploring the ebbs and flows of the artistic process."

• Susanna Hill's blog

 "I loved this book for the history – the information about Sonny’s life and music – but even better was the way the story was told.  Barry literally wrote in jazz.  Overall this is an amazing book with a lot to offer educationally and artistically.  A great addition to any classroom, library, or kids’ room shelf! "

• shelf-awareness.com

 "A story about an adult's sabbatical from his professional life is an unusual concept for a children's book, but Barry Wittenstein's jazzy-rhythmed Sonny's Bridge makes perfect sense once it's in readers' hands."

• Booklist

 "Wittenstein presents the story in jaunty, lyrical phrasings.  A good choice for collections in need of biographies focused on music or lesser-known African American musicians."

• SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL

 "The life of jazz legend Sonny Rollins pulses with the rousing spontaneity of his music in Wittenstein’s free verse biography. [The]verse replicates the swift tempo of bebop, interspersing rhyme and combining informal vernacular with a sense of extemporization in the rhythm."

• librarylessonswithbooks.com

 "This biography of Sonny Bridge reads like a jazz song. Syncopated notes of jazz greats and historical events emerge throughout the text. The conversational language flows with a creative tempo. Interesting use of punctuation enhances the rhythm of the story."

• KIRKUS  -- Best of 2019

 "Wittenstein’s free-verse narrative perfectly captures the tension leading up to the speech as each adviser urged his own ideas while remaining a supportive community. Pinkney’s trademark illustrations dramatize this and the speech, adding power and further illuminating the sense of historical importance.."

• BOOKLIST  -- Best of 2019

 "Wittenstein’s free verse, beautifully subdued, flows crisp and clear, leaving room for Pinkney to shine."

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• PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

 "Wittenstein’s riveting story shows that historical moments—and movements—are not inevitable; they’re shaped and changed by many hands and voices. In emphatic phrases and art alternatingly warm and tense, the creators’ moving portrait of the civil rights leader in consultation with others is an invaluable addition to the shelf of King biographies."

• HORN BOOK

 "The urgency of the text, underscored by boldface type marking the relentless passing of the hours, is complemented beautifully by Pinkney's more contemplative art. The loose-lined pencil and watercolor-washed illustrations often include emotionally resonant background portraits of people who inspired King as he composed the speech. Collage elements are incorporated brilliantly, from scraps of newspapers, maps, and hotel wallpaper to torn photos of relevant landmarks (the White House; Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church). . . . This is essential American history, distilled into one of the most powerful picture books of the year." 

• THE BULLETIN OF THE CENTER FOR CHILDREN'S BOOKS

"A vivid snapshot of a moment of creative, collaborative, persuasive energy that takes the topic far beyond 'didja know'-style trivia about a historic event and focuses on the subtle elements that can change a speech forever. Pinkney’s familiar watercolor portraiture takes on a new level here from the addition of graphite and colored-pencil textures and collage notes; captions to identify inspirations and attending luminaries float softly like benedictions, while sign lettering, both segregationist and protest, cuts sharply through cloudy backgrounds."

• SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL

"Wittenstein's straightforward, informative text conveys both the urgency of King's words and the weight of his responsibility as a social justice icon, but does not compromise the sobering reality of the country's racial unrest in 1963. Pinkney's warm illustrations are reminiscent of courtroom sketches, transporting readers into the historic moment. . . . Wittenstein and Pinkney's collaboration is an evocative study in King's speechwriting process. A work that takes a familiar topic and shapes it into a moving portrait of ­undeterred determination and conviction."

• THE WASHINGTON POST

"'A Place to Land' (Holiday House, ages 7 to 10), written by Barry Wittenstein, focuses on the way Martin Luther King Jr. crafted and delivered his 'I Have a Dream' speech 56 years ago this August. The opening pages feature King in the Willard Hotel lobby with Rustin and eight other advisers, debating the content of the speech the night before the march. The rest of the book, illustrated with enormous heart and rich textures by Jerry Pinkney, presents Dr. King's inspiring words as part of an outsize pageant, featuring King, the crowds and others on the stage, including Mahalia Jackson, who urged King, 'Tell them about the dream!'"

• Selected for the 2020 Texas Bluebonnet Master List

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• Winner of the Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children

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• COMMON SENSE MEDIA

"This beautiful, unusual picture book zeroes in on Martin Luther King Jr.'s writing process and how the words he hadn't written down became the most memorable part of his most famous speech. Author Barry Wittenstein turns the historical record into spare, poetic text in A Place to Land. And Jerry Pinkney's moody, emotional illustrations and mixed-media collages make that history come alive. He also shows how the struggle continued, in King's time and our own, with the final page having portraits of Rep. Shirley Chisholm, Rep. John Lewis, and President Barack Obama. The final lines of the text are: "Martin stepped up to the lectern, and stepped down on the other side of history."

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