This rallying cry, the picture book debut of presidential inaugural poet Gorman, opens with a cross-legged Black child strumming a guitar: "I can hear change humming/ In its loudest, proudest song./ I don't fear change coming,/ And so I sing along," the confident first-person rhyming narration begins. As the child walks past a vivid mural of Martin Luther King Jr., they encounter a light-skinned Jewish youth carrying a tuba. Outstretching a garbage bag, the first child entreats the second to join in cleaning up a park. The duo then continues through their city modeling serving actions: offering sustenance to a parent and child, delivering groceries to an elderly person, outstretching instruments to other children, and working toward community betterment. Subtle allusion to contemporary events ("Take a knee to make a stand") enrich the text. Acrylic and colored pencil illustrations by Long (Someone Builds the Dream) have a stunning depth of light and gradient, conveying a variously inclusive community working toward populating a symbolic mural of their own. This uplifting serenade will instill readers of any age with hope for the future and the initiative to improve it. Ages 4--8. (Sept.)

A Black girl in red Converse holds a large acoustic guitar and sits beside this book's opening words: "I can hear change humming / In its loudest, proudest song. / I don't fear change coming, / And so I sing along." In front of a beautiful, stained glass-like mural of Martin Luther King, Jr., she meets a white boy in a yarmulke, carrying a tuba. The two pair up and begin performing acts of community service, such as picking up litter and feeding the hungry, accompanied by poet Gorman's rhyming couplets, which are uplifting, inspiring, and refined. Long's stunning artwork, realistically rendered in acrylics and colored pencil, makes expert use of white space, rich colors, light, and shadow, as spreads alternate between placing figures against white backgrounds and displaying full-color scenes that span two pages. The positive messaging speaks to building bridges rather than walls and embracing differences, and with each new child encountered, the girl hands them an instrument, inviting them to take up the song. A lovely and loving call to action and kindness.

"I'm a movement that roars and springs, /There's a wave where my change sings." A dark-skinned, guitar-playing young protagonist serves as a sort of Pied Piper for positive change in this debut picture book by National Youth Poet Laureate Gorman. Sporting a big afro ponytail, she walks through town, helping wherever she's needed, as other children join her in cleaning up trash, planting flowers, painting storefront walls, and more. The illustrations' details point subtly to the children's unique identities -- a variety of skin tones, a yarmulke, a wheelchair -- but as the protagonist articulates the unifying themes of cooperation, self-esteem, and empowerment, they all work together to make change with the resources they have, including their own hands. Long's (Someone Builds the Dream, rev. 5/21) powerful acrylic and colored-pencil illustrations bring each scene to life. A mural recalling stained glass and depicting Martin Luther King Jr. is featured near the beginning of the book; another mural declaring "We Are the Change," which shows the protagonist and the other child activists joyfully playing music together, appears near the end. This inspiring call to action unambiguously suggests that every individual, regardless of age, can contribute to making the world a better place. Michelle H. Martin January/February 2022 p.84(c) Copyright 2022. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Great expectations of wordsmith Gorman are not disappointed in this "children's anthem" to change. In rhyming verses, a first-person narrator sings along, telling readers, "I can hear change coming / In its loudest, proudest song." The poem does become a kind of song, as the child, a Black girl with glowing brown skin and textured hair, carries a guitar. As she joins with others, she hands them instruments, and together they change the world in large and small ways--delivering groceries and meals, cleaning up outdoor spaces, and making literal and figurative music with their deeds and their instruments. Long's illustrations offer an interpretation of the anthem that expands upon the text and becomes its own rhythmic story. A quiet opening and a stunning second spread one could gaze at for days are followed by spreads that alternate between white space and full color, climaxing with a crescendo and then ending on a soft, steady note, when the narrator looks out to readers, offering them an invitation to carry the song on into the world. In rich language and vivid art, this hopeful celebration of the life-affirming power of change to ripple out into a better future is irresistible. Text and poetry work together to regulate a careful reading of this beautiful work. (This book was reviewed digitally.) One to keep, to read, and to reread. (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.