A Girl Can Build Anything

February 15, 2023
Imagination, ingenuity, and innovation come together in this ode to the building power of girls. A sextet of girls dream, design, tinker, and fix as their skills expand. With the help of female-presenting grown-ups, the girls take up drills and drivers, paintbrushes, and glue to find ways to help their community, such as fixing up a derelict playground. Sometimes things don't go as planned. That's when the girls collectively take a breath and come up with new ideas to solve their design challenges. As the girls grow into women, they take on bigger projects, culminating in a multistory building. Staccato phrases accumulate, building to the repeated refrain, "A girl can build many things. / A girl can build anything." The text maintains a determinedly motivational tone that leads to an unsurprisingly empowering ending. The brightly colored illustrations provide a bit of a throughline to tie this poem together as the girls grow from childhood to adulthood. Collage elements, including graph paper, measuring tape, and textured papers, draw the eye. The girls are diverse in skin color and hair color and texture. (This book was reviewed digitally.) A pleasant, confidence-building poem. (Picture book. 3-7)

COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

February 27, 2023
“A girl can build many things./ A girl can build anything.” Employing this emboldening refrain throughout, previous collaborators Charlton-Trujillo and Zietlow Miller (the Lupe Lopez books) empower readers to dream—and build—big in this book boasting a cast of construction-capable girls. As affirming text kicks off with “a vision./ A sketch./ And a plan,” digitally collaged tissue paper scenes from Morris (All Aboard the Schooltrain) depict a child, shown with brown skin, drawing in a notebook. In subsequent scenes, a communal cast ranging in abilities, ages, body types, and skin tones works to build a variety of structures, starting with simple objects (“A box?/ A birdhouse?// A bookshelf?”) and leading to more elaborate projects, all improvements to an abandoned playground strewn with “caution” tape. Text introduces building materials (“Sheetrock./ Shingles./ Or shutters”) as well as tools (“Drivers./ Handles./ Levers”) as characters construct a trellis, a table, a tree house, and more. Acknowledging that some projects may lean, wobble, or completely collapse, growth-mindset lines invite creators to return to the drawing board (“Failure isn’t final./ It’s where new ideas are made”). It’s a confidence-boosting look at teamwork that shows the whole as greater than the sum of its parts. Ages 4–8. Authors’ agents: (for Charlton-Trujillo) Erin Murphy, Erin Murphy Literary; (for Miller) Ammi-Joan Paquette, Erin Murphy Literary. Illustrator’s agent: Claire Easton, Painted Words.

March 1, 2023
Preschool-Grade 2 *Starred Review* This empowering book encourages girls to make their creative ideas a reality. Direct-address narration talks them through the process with an ongoing reminder that whatever a girl can imagine, she can accomplish. Simple projects such as a box or a bookshelf are suggested as the first step in building and learning to use tools. From there, more difficult projects can be attempted. Wood, plywood, or plastic can turn into a table or tree house. With practice, using a hammer and nails or a drill can become second nature. Birdhouses, a trellis, or playground equipment--nothing's off-limits to girls who want to create, and if mistakes are made, the book urges, don't give up, "because failure isn't final. It's where new ideas are made." The tissue-paper collage illustrations are full of movement and engaging details as well as a variety of perspectives. Adult supervision is subtle but visible as girls are shown working with saws and paint and ladders. Teamwork and making friends with others who share the same interests stand out in this comprehensive title.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

March 1, 2023
This joyful depiction takes readers throughout the creative design and construction processes, from imagining and planning all the way up to large-scale buildings. Simple, rhythmic text features girls developing skills with small projects before moving on to the big and complex, adding knowledge and hands-on experience with new tools and materials as they go. Setbacks happen, frustrations and failures are acknowledged -- and then seen as opportunities, "because failure isn't final. / It's where new ideas are made." Morris's cheerful, inclusive art was created with digitally collaged tissue paper. The contrast between the textured paper and the projects' sharp lines is eye-catching and adds another layer of connection to the text. The girls of this story imagine, learn, try, and persevere until they've built something new, beautiful, and useful. This ode to girl power should inspire tinkerers and future builders alike. Laura Koenig

(Copyright 2023 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from May 1, 2023

K-Gr 3-Girl power is emphasized heavily in this delightful read that showcases exactly what girls are capable of. The book opens with a girl, clad in yellow work gloves, drawing up her project idea. "It starts with a vision. A sketch. And a plan. To create what you've only imagined." Illustrations feature eye-catching bright colors done in tissue paper collage and finished digitally. Characters, primarily Black and brown girls, work hard and work together, building small things like birdhouses and then larger things like an entire playground; as adults, they are seen constructing a large building made of steel. The authors nail down encouragement on every page for girls who desire to build. Mistakes will happen, but continuing is the only way to go. "Take a breath. Take a break. Then... try again. Because failure isn't final. It's where new ideas are made." No more than a few short sentences are delivered on each page; the illustrations make the point. Inspiring and motivating, the book may be aimed at girls, but everyone will get the message. VERDICT This get-it-done book carries an important message for all children.-Tracy Cronce

Copyright 2023 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2023
This joyful depiction takes readers throughout the creative design and construction processes, from imagining and planning all the way up to large-scale buildings. Simple, rhythmic text features girls developing skills with small projects before moving on to the big and complex, adding knowledge and hands-on experience with new tools and materials as they go. Setbacks happen, frustrations and failures are acknowledged -- and then seen as opportunities, "because failure isn't final. / It's where new ideas are made." Morris's cheerful, inclusive art was created with digitally collaged tissue paper. The contrast between the textured paper and the projects' sharp lines is eye-catching and adds another layer of connection to the text. The girls of this story imagine, learn, try, and persevere until they've built something new, beautiful, and useful. This ode to girl power should inspire tinkerers and future builders alike.

(Copyright 2023 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)