R-E-S-P-E-C-T: Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul (2024)

The life of Aretha Franklin is presented in snapshots of some of the obstacles she overcame and some of the achievements she fought to accomplish - inspired look at the Queen of Soul - beautiful art.

G-I-F-T-E-D
Young, gifted, black, Aretha hears a melody.
Then she plays the tune by ear---plinking perfectly.

Wow. What a gorgeous book.

The life of singer Aretha Franklin, depicted in short rhyme and magnificent illustrations.

Yes, yes, a thousand times yes, this picture book biography is stunning. From the carefully constructed rhyming couplets to the gorgeous oil painting illustrations, this is a queen of picture book biographies.

What a lovely book -- gorgeous illustrations. Fun introduction to each page with major words spelled out (like the title). I was a little surprised by the "Daddy wasn't faithful" line. I haven't taught Kindergarten and 1st grade in a while, but that's the type of book line that would create group questions. Heehee! Listen in a virtual read-aloud. I'll look forward to holding a print copy very soon...

Meet Aretha Franklin!

Did you know...
that she was able to sing 3+ octaves higher than her highest note?
-she was 14 when she debuted as a singer?
-She had 21 Chart-topping songs?

Meet the crowned Queen of Soul!

#OwnVoices Author and Illustrator

Frankly, this book sings.
First of all, the illustrations are STAGGERING. Easy to see why it won the Coretta Scott King illustrator award.
My kid liked the structure...he was familiar with the song so he understood where it came from and it made for an effective and interesting read aloud. The text, while sparse, doesn't leave out anything, and I liked the book so much it didn't even bother me that it rhymed. Beautiful picture book biography...I'd share this with anyone.

Wonderful art and beautiful writing.

Beautiful tribute to a legendary lady.

“Aretha’s crowned as Queen of Soul, our own royalty.”

Aretha Franklin is known as the Queen of Soul for her incredible musical prowess and transformation of R&B and soul music. R-E-S-P-E-C-T takes readers through her awe-inspiring musical journey, from her childhood beginnings in gospel to performing original works for huge crowds—even in front of multiple presidents! Aretha Franklin’s talent was recognized from a young age by her father, Clarence, a preacher and gospel singer himself, as she learned to play piano by ear and sang in a church choir with her sisters. At the incredible age of fourteen, Aretha recorded her first studio album, Spirituals. Adorned with Frank Morrison’s rich oil paintings referencing Aretha’s life and music, this gorgeous picture book contrasts a young girl’s early days with some of her greatest achievements in an unapologetically glamorous description.

Though I had been familiar with Aretha Franklin’s musical talents before reading this book, its profound storytelling and lush illustrations inspired me to look further into her amazing accomplishments. I hadn’t known that she was the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, nor had I realized how connected her music and her activism were, I’m ashamed to admit. Though I’m very much an amateur art critic, I knew from my first glance at the cover that Frank Morrisons’ illustrations are each a poignant work of art. The little details in the illustrations referencing Aretha’s most famous songs, and the imagery of her as a queen, make the book an extra special experience. The rhyming lines and themed words for each page are clever and well-titled. For a gorgeous, inspiring look at Aretha Franklin’s journey into stardom, read R-E-S-P-E-C-T while you listen to the Queen of Soul sing.

Content Warnings: Divorce, absent parent

Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @pinereadsreview and check out our website at www.pinereadsreview.com for reviews, author interviews, blogs, podcast episodes, and more!

There are things that I LOVE about this book including the illustrations, spelling out of the key words, the endpapers, the author's note, and the list of hits. As a child of the Motown movement, I enjoyed the nods to favorite songs like "Pink Cadillac" on the title page. Frank Morrison has been flying under my radar. When I googled him, he discovered that he illustrated a number books that I have thoroughly enjoyed. I will be on the lookout for him. The problems...I admire Weatherford's work, unfortunately, she fell into trap writing a rhyming book. Text often suffers when in search of a rhyming word.

Carole Boston Weatherford does not disappoint in this visually stunning new picture-book biography of music icon Aretha Franklin. There is only minimal text, and very large, impressive color paintings that are by artist Frank Morrison, whose style here evokes very much the grandeur of Kadir Nelson. The text is done in rhyming couplets, which started with single words, such as B-L-E-S-S-E-D in the first spread. This is a great read-aloud for Women's History Month, Black History Month, or any month, and could be paired with listening to some of her most famous songs. An author's note gives additional biographical information on Franklin, as well as a list of her biggest hits.

I loved the one word, and then the accompanying short but powerful text on each page. This story was also full of fascinating facts in the author's note at the end. In my opinion, the real treat is the stunning illustrations of art by Frank Morrison. They are breathtaking and worth slowing down to pour over and appreciate.

Bought this as a Valentines Day gift for my six year old niece. We loved the artwork. The story was okay, but I was surprised by the lines, “ S-T-R-I-F-E... Clarence and Barbara can’t seem to agree. Daddy wasn’t faithful, so Mama chose to flee.” Really in a children’s book. Okay. LOL!!!

Absolutely gorgeous!!!

Does picture book art get more beautiful than Frank Morrison's paintings in this book? I don't think so. A fitting tribute to one of the greatest musicians to ever live.

Picture book biography with gorgeous, stunning illustrations. Only wish the text was longer.

Be sure to check out the book’s undies and end pages.

The CSK for illustration is well deserved.

Stunning love how the words work with the Main words and and the the two lines, illustrations are deep and rich.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T is written by Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrated by Frank Morrison. This book is written beautifully and the large oil-painting illustrations are stunning. The book presents snapshots of Aretha Franklin’s life - touching on her early childhood, her musical talent, and her activism in the Civil Rights Movement. Each page has a single word (B-L-E-S-S-E-D, S-T-R-I-F-E, etc.)- that acts as a heading for the page and is followed by rhyming couplets. Although the pages present few words, it beautifully depicts the big events of her life. It is full of facts from start to finish. The book ends with an author’s note and a list of Aretha’s chart hits.

This book can be read at any time but would be particularly great for Women’s History Month or Black History Month. Students can work on a timeline of her life and can list her accomplishments. If used during a special month, students can compare and contrast her life to the accomplishments o another.

I found this book on the Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People list for 2021. I checked it out from my local library.

Gorgeous artwork with less-than-carefully constructed rhythmic text.

EDIT 9/25: I removed a star after realizing that the text yada-yada-yada's about 40 years of Aretha's life, jumping from 70s/80s to her big-ass be-ribboned hat she wore during Obama's inauguration, as if A ROSE IS STILL A ROSE never happened!!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtMUQ...

I did not know that Franklin was an activist. I would have liked to know more about the influences on particular songs (I don't think they were all gospel-adjacent?).

This is a book for young readers but it is the artwork (rendered in oil paint) that make it special as each painting covers two pages. The art gets at the emotional and symbolic parts of Aretha’s story, which is told in 2 rhyming lines on each page headed by a single topic word just like the title: R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

LOVE the artwork. Text is a bit choppy and falls short. However, I do like how each couplet is titled with a word using dashes as in the title.

This won the King Illustrator Award and deserves it. The text was ok but the illustrations were bold and beautiful. I really liked the final portrait of her proud smiling face with a crown outlined in her hair. She was more than queen of music, she was a queen of activism as well. I found the text questionable in mentioning that “Daddy wasn’t faithful, so Mama chose to flee”. Reading in the after matter that her mother died 4 years later makes me suspect there was much more to the story. The text focuses on her activism and neglects her later life. She pretty clearly according to the after matter got married and had children. I wish that had been mentioned briefly. It is good to let kids know it doesn’t have to be either activism or private life but can be both. I thought the illustration mostly quite good but didn’t feel bowled over by them. The one I liked best, mentioned above, was actually one of the plainer quieter illustrations. Recommended for Black History month or Women’s History Month.

I am t o u g h critic of picture book biographies. Huge pet peeve when the author’s note is far more interesting than the body of text. I’m a Carole Boston Weatherford fan but we hardly learn a thing about Ms. Franklin. It’s as if she sacrificed content to make the lines rhyme. The illustrations are what make this picture book book shine.

A picture book biography of singer Aretha Franklin.

This is succinctly worded, but each word was chosen with care and the result is a powerful picture book biography of a well-loved singer who used her platform to speak out for civil rights too. There's more information about Aretha's life in the back of the book. The illustrations are stunning, and well-deserved the Coretta Scott King Illustrator award. A highly recommended picture book biography.

Solid and gorgeous illustrations. Weaker text.
Biography for middle grades of an incredible woman.
Weatherford takes readers through portions of Aretha Franklin's life with large gaps between some pages.

Carole Boston Weatherford’s R-E-S-P-E-C-T Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul is a striking picture book depicting the life of Aretha Franklin. She was born in Memphis and later, moved to and grew up in Detroit. At the age of fourteen, she began recording gospel music and her singing career began. She sang at important events such as rallies for the Civil Rights Movement and Barack Obama’s swearing-in ceremony.
Aretha’s legacy is shared in this picture book with artwork by Frank Morrison. I downloaded this book as an e-book and pored over the pictures for quite some time. The historical figures included within the pages were incredibly interesting to see.
As a teacher, I would use this book during read aloud to share both the story of Aretha Franklin and the illustrations. Students of any age would benefit from reading this book and learning about her history. Younger students could begin to learn about the Civil Rights Movement while older students could dive even deeper into the topic. This book could also be used as a mentor text for poetry as each page includes a rhyming couplet. Students could work to emulate this writing style during a poetry unit.
I discovered R-E-S-P-E-C-T Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul when perusing the Coretta Scott King book award recipients. This book was the 2021 Illustration Winner.

Amazing. Carol Boston Weatherford is a genius!

4.5 stars