Nelson Mandela

An unobtrusive narrator, Forest Whitaker has a firm and evenly modulated voice that underscores the Nelson Mandela's determination throughout his life--from his days as a student to his twenty-seven year imprisonment and presidency of South Africa. The only one chosen to attend school at an early age, Nelson Mandela moved to Johannesburg for his education and witnessed South Africa succumbing to Apartheid government. From that point he became a champion of both freedom and reconciliation: "We must forget out terrible past...and walk the last mile to freedom." Author Kadir Nelson delivers his author's note, which provides additional details of Mandela's life. The production concludes with an interview in which the author talks about his life, art, and Mandela's importance, as well as his conviction that children should see themselves in the artwork of a picture book. A.R. (c) AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine

Starred review from November 19, 2012
Nelson’s (I Have a Dream) large, luminous, and almost photographic paintings make this an extremely powerful picture-book biography of South Africa’s first black president. The wordless cover alone is arresting, as an older Mandela gazes serenely at readers (the book’s title and Nelson’s author/illustrator credit appear on the back). From a silhouette of Mandela (born Rolihlahla, which means “troublemaker”) as a boy play fighting with sticks on a country hillside to a portrait of him as a bearded young man staring out from behind prison bars, Nelson’s pictures are an immediate focal point, but also help tell the story. The straightforward narrative is broken up like verse (“The state vowed to put Nelson in jail/ and he went underground./ He wore different disguises/ and lived in the shadows”), clearly explaining the concept of apartheid and the efforts of Mandela and others to fight it. Concluding author notes offer more details about Mandela’s life. It’s a solid biography in its own right, but thanks to Nelson’s characteristically stunning paintings, it soars. Ages 4–8. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House.