Put your shoes on & get ready!

"Before Raphael Warnock became a pastor and the first Black senator from Georgia, he was a little boy whose father told him to get up, get dressed, put on his shoes, and get ready! So that's what he did, along every step of his journey. From his work boots to his marching band shoes to his shiny lace-ups, Senator Reverend Warnock found the right shoes to fit his feet and to carry him toward his dreams. This inspirational story, with bold, brilliant art by TeMika Grooms, follows Raphael Warnock's journey from Savannah, Georgia, to the United States Senate and shows young readers that they, too, can find the power to be themselves and make a difference when they have the shoes that fit their feet"--

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Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Hardwood Creek Library (Forest Lake)	PICTURE BOOK WAR	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Oakdale Library	PICTURE BOOK WAR	Searching... Unknown
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Searching... R.H. Stafford Library (Woodbury)	PICTURE BOOK WAR	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

From Georgia's first Black Senator Raphael Warnock comes an inspiring picture book about finding your dreams and making your mark in the world.

Before Raphael Warnock became a pastor and the first Black senator from Georgia, he was a little boy whose father told him to get up, get dressed, put on his shoes, and get ready! So that's what he did, along every step of his journey. From his work boots to his marching band shoes to his shiny lace-ups, Senator Reverend Warnock found the right shoes to fit his feet and to carry him toward his dreams.

This inspirational story, with bold, brilliant art by TeMika Grooms, follows Raphael Warnock's journey from Savannah, Georgia, to the United States Senate and shows young readers that they, too, can find the power to be themselves and make a difference when they have the shoes that fit their feet.

Author Notes

Raphael G. Warnock was elected the first Black senator from Georgia in 2020. He also serves as the senior pastor of the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church of Atlanta. Senator Reverend Warnock went to Morehouse College and Union Theological Seminary and is a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. He is the eleventh of twelve siblings, and has two children, Chloe and Caleb. He is the author of A Way Out of No Way- A Memoir of Truth, Transformation, and the New American Story . You can find out more about him at warnockforgeorgia.com.

TeMika Grooms is an Atlanta-based artist and art activist who illustrated Save The Crash-test Dummies by Jennifer Swanson and Nana's Favorite Things by Dorothy H. Price. She is the Founder and Program Coordinator for KidsLitATL, a grassroots organization to support a diverse group of creators in Atlanta, Georgia, where she lives with her cat, Nina Simone, and her two daughters, who she affectionately calls Thing One and Thing Two. You can visit her online at www.temikatheartist.com.

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

In this anecdotal picture book, Georgia's first Black senator revisits his childhood, offering takeaways that young readers can step into. As a boy, Warnock sometimes resists his father's daily call to "Get up! Get dressed! Put your shoes on and get ready!" Slipping on his dad's boots instead of his own prompts this guidance: "You've got to put the right shoes on for the work you're meant to do." His dad models this, working on weekdays and preaching on weekends: "During the week, my father lifted broken cars, and on Sundays... he lifted people." Inspired to become a preacher himself, Warnock realizes "I didn't have the shoes for that job yet," but grows into them through college and adulthood, becoming senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church, once led by Martin Luther King Jr. Foregrounding portraiture and images of figures' footwear, Grooms's illustrations have the sweep of murals, portraying characters of varying abilities and skin tones, and communicating Warnock's purpose-driven efforts. Ages 4--8. (Jan.)

Kirkus Review

Georgia's first Black senator urges readers to get up, get dressed, and find the right shoes for what they're going to do. Warnock offers a shoe-based view of his own experiences--donning boots each summer to help his dad haul old cars and church shoes on Sundays to hear him preach, high-tops to play basketball, and pastor and activist shoes as a grown-up. Though he became a pastor at the same Baptist church where Martin Luther King Jr. preached, he notes with humility that he "never thought it was [his] job to walk in" those shoes but to find his own, and now, after his election, he wears lace-ups for his job of helping people. Fondly watching his own children clomping around in his shoes, he tells them what his father told him: "You have to put on shoes that fit your feet--shoes for the job you're meant to do." Often taking ground-level perspectives to focus attention on the footwear, Grooms depicts the author recognizably in uncrowded settings that usually include racially and ethnically diverse company. A final scene of the senator sitting with a group of diverse but not individualized children does skate close to blandness, but overall the art's clean hues and smiling faces create an atmosphere more buoyant than stale for the lightly delivered message. (This book was reviewed digitally.) Good-humored inspiration from heel to toe. (Picture-book autobiography. 6-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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Summary

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Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Kirkus Review

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