Who Is Malala Yousafzai?

PreS-K–Kaiser, working with the brevity of the board book format, wastes little time in setting the stage for this modern hero’s story. “Malala grew up in the lovely Swat Valley in Pakistan. Her home was always busy with family and neighbors—the women cooking together, the men reciting poetry, and the kids playing outside. Malala often joined the men, and loved listening to her father read.” Rodil’s illustrations do not attempt a literal interpretation of the country, but in broad swaths provide onlookers with Yousafzai’s garb and surroundings, her delight in the classroom, and her sorrow that the one thing she wished for adulthood—to live freely, as men did—was impossible. This information is in the third spread of the book. The changes in her country when the Taliban came to power are described in a vague way, the specifics left for an author’s note. In all, the book provides quick, dense strokes to outline this young woman’s life, which is really all a board book can do.