Greatness

by Regis and Kahran Bethencourt

Genres: Picture Books, History, Biography, Nonfiction, Photography

40 pages, Hardcover

Published January 14, 2025

Reviews

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful photography, inspiring stories of great people in Black History, this book needs to be in every library in our country! And at the end of the book, there are short biographies of the book in this book.

[Panda Incognito · Rating 3 out of 5]

This picture book has photographic illustrations, and it shows a boy and a girl spending time with their grandmother and learning about some heroes from Black history. The photos show the children dressed up as these people, as they imagine themselves into these stories. The hairstyles and costuming are great, and I love the vivid portraits of the children representing each of these people.

The book doesn't have much of a story arc, and is mainly a vehicle for the message and the photos. This also gives a very surface-level treatment of the history involved, as the story moves quickly through all of these different people without always giving a clear timeline or sense of place for when and where these people lived. There are additional historical notes in the back of the book, but I would give this book a higher rating if it had either had a stronger storyline or had included more historical information throughout.

I received a free copy from the publisher through Amazon Vine, and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful photos, costumes, and hair. The hairstyles in this book blew my mind - so well done.

[Jocelin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anoher great entry in this photography series. Even though this is a book that is aimed at children, it makes a most excellent coffee table book.

[Bookishrealm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such beautiful photographs! If you want to learn more about Black history in a unique and fun way, then I recommend checking this one out.

[Sharon Skinner · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely book to help kids see great historical figures that look like them and know they can also achieve greatness.

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Inspiring and informative. I'm always an advocate for more photography in children's books. I'm really reluctant to say that the tone felt a little bit cheesy.

[Robin Caddell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gorgeous and inspirational picture book for children (of ALL ages!) sharing accomplishments of a few women and men in Black history. I wish there were more books like this when I was a child!

[AMY · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a non-fiction book that explores famous Black Americans and their inspiring stories. There are a few things included in the book that might not be appropriate for younger children, such as Black Wall Street tragedy, the protests of Tommie Smith and John Carlos at the Olympics in 1968, and Colin Kaepernick taking a knee during the National Anthem at his football game with the San Francisco 49ers in 2016. Those sections would definitely require some explanation/discussion for younger children to understand what their actions meant in history. The photography is outstanding, and the information is very well-presented for the most part. There is additional information at the end of the book on each person presented throughout.