What Will You Be?

by Yamile Saied Méndez, Kip Alizadeh (Illustrator)

Overview

From Yamile Saied Méndez, acclaimed author of Where Are You From?, comes a stunning lyrical picture book that tells the story of one girl who is always asked a simple question: What will you be when you grow up? 

“Méndez and Alizadeh create a balance between the abstract and concrete by letting the child imagine the future but with Abuela’s guidance and support. A sweet read to share with loved ones.” —Kirkus (starred review)

“Turning a common question of childhood into a substantive quest, this imaginative set of plans will have other children charting their own course through the stars.” —School Library Journal

What will you be when you grow up?

A young girl dreams about all the endless possibilities, sparking a sense of wonder, curiosity, and growth. With her abuela’s loving guidance, she learns her potential is limitless.

Yamile Saied Méndez’s powerful, lyrical text and Kip Alizadeh’s colorful, stunning art are a radiant celebration of family, love, and community.

A Spanish-language edition, ¿Qué Serás?, is also available.

• A Kirkus Best Picture Book of the Year
• A Banks Street Best Children’s Books of the Year
• A Wisconsin State Reading Association’s 2022 Picture This Recommendation List

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062839954
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	05/04/2021
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	597,862
Product dimensions:	8.60(w) x 10.20(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Yamile Saied Méndez is the author of many books for young readers and adults, including the award-winning picture books Where Are You From? and What Will You Be? She was born and raised in Rosario, Argentina, and now lives in a lovely valley surrounded by mountains in Utah with her husband, five children, two dogs, and a majestic cat. She’s a graduate of Voices of Our Nations and the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA writing for children and young adults program. She’s always trying new empanada recipes. Connect with her at yamilemendez.com.

Kip Alizadeh is an illustrator and visual artist. When they aren’t creating, they like to DJ, spend time with their cats, and play sports. Kip is nonbinary, queer, Iranian, and English and lives in Northern Ireland. They have a bachelor's degree with honors from Falmouth University and they have illustrated several picture books. Visit them at kipalizadeh.net.

Editorial Reviews

04/19/2021

Astronaut, unicorn, and clown are a brown-skinned child’s choices for what to be as an adult. But when a group of friends press, “No, what will you really be?” the child turns to comforting and creative Abuela, “who has been everything under the Sun and the Moon,” about how to imagine possibilities for the future. Offering sound, loving advice, “Abuela points to my heart and says, ‘Listen.’ ” And a rainbow swirl of paint from Abuela’s brush sweeps readers through pages of verdant outdoor scenes as the child envisions various futures as a builder, a dreamer, a farmer, a healer—taking pride in how each of those roles celebrates community, heritage, and family, and offering readers a greater understanding of the future’s expansive possibilities. Ages 4–8. (May)

Publishers Weekly

Méndez and Alizadeh create a balance between the abstract and concrete by letting the child imagine the future but with Abuela’s guidance and support. A sweet read to share with loved ones.”
— Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“This is a prayer to personal power, a license to dream big, and permission to keep moving forward, beyond proscribed or limiting roles…Turning a common question of childhood into a substantive quest, this imaginative set of plans will have other children charting their own course through the stars.” — School Library Journal

From the Publisher

05/01/2021

PreS-K—All the other children, one tan with a mop of black hair, another Black with natural hair, and a third, white with orange hair, nag the heroine to say what she will be when she grows up. "Clown" and "unicorn" as choices do not satisfy them, so she, with light brown skin and two skinny black braids, goes to her abuela in the art studio where bright paints and pots are lined up. Abuela wisely provides the answer: "Listen." The child listens to her heart and then paints the loftiest of dreams, from building a home that welcomes everyone to walking the roads her ancestors built, from healing bones to mending hearts. The dimension and scale of the answers grow interplanetary, and her abuela reminds her that if she needs help, many hands can accomplish what one person cannot. This is a prayer to personal power, a license to dream big, and permission to keep moving forward, beyond proscribed or limiting roles. In the end, the child and abuela leave the art studio, having finished a giant mural on which some of these plans have been painted. The illustrator's friendly scenes of zeal and cooperation will inspire others to aim high, and the message of the book is delivered lightly, but well. VERDICT Turning a common question of childhood into a substantive quest, this imaginative set of plans will have other children charting their own course through the stars.—Kimberly Olson Fakih, School Library Journal

School Library Journal

★ 2021-03-31
Guided by Abuela, a young child discovers their potential.

“No, what will you really be?” a group of friends ask the young narrator in response to their imagining a future as an astronaut, a unicorn, or a clown. Without an answer, the child seeks the help of Abuela, who has been everything “under the Sun and the Moon.” Encouraged by Abuela to listen to their heart, the child quiets down and pays attention until the answers come. The pair then embarks on an exercise of the imagination as the child envisions becoming a builder of homes, a writer and painter of dreams, an explorer of their roots, a farmer of wonder and change, a healer of broken hearts, a student, and a teacher. Abuela accompanies her grandchild on this journey, standing or sitting nearby, at times even lifting up the child. Alizadeh’s scratchy illustrations show the loving relationship between grandmother and grandchild, both depicted as people of color. The beginning endpapers illustrate the studio walls as a blank canvas with limitless opportunities, the back endpapers show those opportunities fulfilled with splashes of color depicting all the things the young narrator can be. Méndez and Alizadeh create a balance between the abstract and concrete by letting the child imagine the future but with Abuela’s guidance and support. (This book was reviewed digitally with 8.5-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at 52.1% of actual size.)

A sweet read to share with loved ones. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews