Coretta Scott King Award and Newbery Honor-winning author Renée Watson's Cicely Tyson is a gracefully written picture book that's both a nonfiction account of the life and work of the actress and human rights activist and a love letter to Harlem and Black history.
Tyson was born in New York in December 1924. When she was young, a stranger told her mother to "take care of that baby. She is going to make you very proud." Watson (Black Girl You Are Atlas; Piecing Me Together) expertly describes Tyson's humble beginnings in Harlem and shows how the young woman got her start as a model for Ebony, Jet, and Vogue magazines and performing in early roles on stage and CBS. The stranger's words--of course--proved prescient: Tyson grew up to win three Emmy Awards, an Academy Award, and a Tony, and spoke out on social issues impacting people around the world, eventually receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Fiber artist and debut picture book illustrator Sherry Shine's fabric and quilt illustrations have depth and texture and honor Tyson's love for "unique, bold clothes." The combination of weaves, patterns, and African-inspired fabrics is perfectly suited to Watson's lyrical free verse. The author uses poetry to place Tyson's life in history, showing the hurdles Tyson had to overcome as a Black woman who lived through segregation and the civil rights movement as well as the artistic expansion of the Harlem Renaissance. Cicely Tyson is an exquisite homage to an exceptional Black woman. --Kharissa Kenner, library media specialist, Churchill School and Center