The Knowing
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- US$10.99
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From the Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter, political activist, and feminist icon comes a picture book with purpose, with heart, and with words that sing.
Singer-songwriter, activist, feminist, and best-selling author Ani Di Franco has written something for her youngest audience: a picture book that invites young readers to ponder the distinction between outer forms of identity and the inner light of consciousness that is even more central to our being. In her signature folk style, Di Franco weaves a story that incorporates themes of individual power and collective responsibility. First-time illustrator Julia Mathew paints universal scenes of childhood in her family’s native India, glowing with honesty and love. Designed to be read aloud or sung, and pored over, this picture book is rich with meaningful text, poignant illustrations, and a unique message that will resonate with all.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
DiFranco's debut picture book offers up a rhyming reverie on selfhood and collective consciousness framed as "The Knowing." Loosely wrought watercolor, colored pencil, and charcoal pictures by Mathew, also making her debut, show a young narrator, who reads as of South Asian heritage, enjoying the simple pleasures of daily life: a hair-braiding session with a loving adult, time with a book under a favorite weathered blanket, and playtime with friends. But when the narrator catches a glimpse of themself in a mirror or in water, their reflection is shown surrounded by rays of light, suggesting that something bigger and more wonderful lies beneath the surface. Beyond that which can be seen or easily experienced (e.g., the "color/ to my hair/ my skin/ my eyes") is something that exists "underneath all that I know," and as the child engages in everyday activities—gazing into the sky, plucking a ripe mango—they contemplate that concept as being at one with a unifying force. Some readers may find more enigma than inspiration in this heady, feelings-oriented text, but its conceit is presented with an genuine openheartedness that should both intrigue and reassure. Ages 3–5. Author's agent: Sarah Lazin, Aevitas Creative Management. Illustrator's agent: Andrea Morrison, Writers House.
