Songbird in the Light

Performer Porter collaborates with Clarkson to tell the uplifting first-person story of a child—described by their mother as “her songbird”—who finds strength in vocalizing. “When I sing, I feel like a tall sunflower dancing in the rain,” the Black speaker opens. In contrast, at school, “I don’t say much.... They laugh at how I walk. And they laugh at how I talk.” Encouraged by a supportive adult, Ms. Irene, the youth finds the courage to go onstage, and matter-of-fact narration turns poetic as the child, leaning into avian motifs, asserts their emerging confidence: “I’m flying/ I’m soaring.” Palmer’s color-saturated acrylic paintings frequently zoom in on their subjects, and vibrantly wrought birds surrealistically appear throughout, even carrying the speaker aloft. After the eventual performance ends in applause, birds seem to dance in flight—an aptly musical close for this fortifying story about finding one’s voice. An author’s note concludes. Secondary characters are portrayed with various abilities and skin tones. Ages 4–8. (Mar.)