Tilt Your Head, Rosie the Red. (The Rosie the Red Series). Rosemary McCarney. Illustrated by Yvonne Cathcart. Toronto, ON: Second Story Press, 2015. 24 pp., hardcover, $15.95. ISBN 978-1-927583-59-3. Subject Heading: Bullying-Juvenile fiction. Kindergarten-grade 2 / Ages 5-7. Review by Kate Hachborn. *** /4

excerpt:

Even more than listening, Rosie loved seeing things from every angle. That had taken lots of practice....
She’d tried standing on her head. She’d tried from very near…and very far away. She’d tried from up high and down low.

Now, whenever she needed to figure something out or notice something new or see a thing through someone else’s eyes, all she had to do was think, Tilt your head, Rosie the Red. And it worked! That was good, because today was going to be a tilt-your-head kind of day.

Donning a red superhero cape with pride each morning, Rosie sets out on her walk to school while paying close attention to the world around her. Arriving at school to find the new Muslim girl, Fadimata, being taunted on the playground for wearing her hijab, Rosie tries to see a way to be a real superhero through helping a young friend by offering a hand. Once inside the classroom, Rosie asks Fadimata to turn her superhero cape into a hijab so she can gain new perspective and join with Fadimata. Rosie and Fadimata arrive at school the following day to find that all of the girls in their class have worn some kind of head covering to show their support.

     Written by Rosemary McCarney, President and CEO of Plan Canada and leader of the “Because I am a Girl movement,” this story places a clear emphasis on the power of social change through individual contributions, with special attention paid to the power of young girls. Rosie is a unique individual whose empathy outweighs the need to be included. McCarney describes Rosie’s experiences through her positive actions rather than the actions of the bullies. The story is transparent for young readers as Rosie becomes the superhero she longs to be simply by offering a hand. Fadimata’s emotions are portrayed through the illustrations; however, her perspective on being teased about her religion and culture is limited. The illustrations are colourful and relate appropriately to the text.

     Although Tilt Your Head, Rosie the Red is Rosemary McCarney’s first book, Yvonne Cathcart has illustrated many children’s books.

Recommended.

Kate Hachborn is a library technician at the W. Ross Macdonald School in Brantford, ON.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

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Published by The Manitoba Library Association ISSN 1201-9364

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