Woodson, Jacqueline. The World Belonged to Us. Leo Espinosa, Illus. Picture Book. PRH/Nancy Paulsen, 05/2022. 32pp. Picture Book. $18.99. 78-0-3995-4549-8. OUTSTANDING. GRADES K-5.
This uplifting picture book opens with a diverse group of schoolchildren running out of their Brooklyn classroom at the beginning of summer vacation. Bell bottoms, mutton chops, and bright-colored clothing let adult readers know that the story is set in the mid to-late 1970s. “In Brooklyn/in the summer/not so long ago” are the words that transport the reader to the joy of summer freedom, playing in the streets of New York where “our block was the whole wide world and the world belonged to us.” The comic-style art by Leo Espinosa is vibrant and bright, adding to the pure joy shown on each page. One scene stands out, where a crying child is comforted by an older Black boy: “And if someone said boy don’t cry, some big boy always said Oh yeah? and had a story about the time he cried and cried until our eyes grew wide. Our hurt knees forgotten.”
Rachael Reiley, Oakland Unified School District, Hillcrest Elementary Librarian