Bound To Stay Bound

School Library Journal - 09/20/2024 Gr 3–7—An unseen student of Sister Corita Kent shares her inspiring life and ideologies in this picture book biography. Light on early details, this book concentrates on Sister Kent's artist perspectives and teaching methods but back matter and a time line fill in any blank spots for inquisitive readers needing more detail. Beautiful collage illustrations with text, inspired by Sister Kent's style, along with some of her original are shown on every page, highlighting her style and message of looking more carefully at things to see them in a new, deeper way. VERDICT An inspiring book helping to remind everyone to look at things more carefully to find deeper meaning in ideas and life. Recommended for libraries where picture book biographies are popular.—Melisa Bailey - Copyright 2024 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Booklist - 04/01/2024 *Starred Review* This dazzling picture-book biography offers a creative crash course in the artistic and social justice teachings of Sister Corita Kent, the Catholic nun who became a pop art sensation in the 1960s. Told from the perspective of one of Kent’s students, invaluable lessons in art and life are conversationally shared: “Sister Corita teaches us to SEE what everybody sees but doesn’t see.” The lines between hard work and play blur together in the pop art nun’s lively art classes. On field trips around Los Angeles, pupils are encouraged to pay attention to their surroundings and look at advertisements, street signs, and billboards with different perspectives. A small piece of cardboard with a hole cut out (dubbed a “finder”) helps bring the beauty of the ordinary into focus. Caldecott Honor–winning illustrator Sweet’s spectacular signature collages burst with eye-popping colors, bold typography, and visual poetry. Inviting close inspection, quotes from Kent are seamlessly integrated into background details, appearing on posters, magazine covers, and protest signs. The elegant, inventive text reads like blank verse: “She is small and quiet, but her art is big and loud. As we walk past, it grabs us, makes us STOP and LOOK.” Back matter includes a concise time line, source notes, and a bibliography for further information about Kent. Playing with words and images, this picture book is an artful homage to a “joyous revolutionary.” - Copyright 2024 Booklist.