On the Fourth of July: A Sparkly Picture Book About Independence Day

Gr 1-2–This colorful, multicultural Fourth of July story will be a welcome read-aloud for the holiday. In short rhyming stanzas that mostly scan well, Rudd describes the course of the evening as a large cast of characters experience the Fourth of July fireworks. The poetic text is spare, evocative, and reads aloud well. However, the real star here is the illustrations. In full-bleed scenes, Chavarri depicts a diverse cast of children and their families preparing for the big night, watching the fireworks, and heading home after the last flicker. The digital-looking art uses bright, saturated colors and includes children of a variety of skin colors and ethnicities, as well as one using a wheelchair. The artwork is engaging and appealing, depicting the children with large eyes and sweet smiles. Chavarri does a lovely job with the fireworks, using colorful swoops and sprays, creating glowing auras around some of the characters, and adding a red glow to depict the light and reflections. The bright colors and brief rhyming text will lend itself well to read-alouds in story hours as well as one-on-one.