What people are saying about What is Given from the Heart…

“Harrison’s detailed, highly textured, and strikingly patterned collage illustrations invite readers to linger over the pages and also add depth to the story’s secondary characters.” Read more here.

— From the January/February 2019 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.     

“This final book by the late McKissack showcases the legendary author’s signature lyricism in full force and receives a stunning, aesthetically ambitious interpretation by Harrison, a fine artist making her picture book debut.” Read more here.

— Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

“A sweet story, one of the legendary McKissack’s last, enhanced by delectable art from a prodigious new talent.” Read more here.

— Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

“Using folk-style illustrations and favoring earth tones, Harrison utilizes mottled backgrounds and colorfully collaged pieces to depict the characters' clothing. The faces are particularly expressive, conveying a full range of emotions.”

— Booklist

“In her first book for children, fine artist Harrison balances trim linework and subtle color and texture, especially in the faces of the African-American community, with more dramatic effects in fresco-like mottling and touches of collage. The result is a luminous visual partner to the text that similarly finds beauty in creativity set against sparseness.”

— The Bulletin

“Harrison's expressive collages combine found materials, acrylic paint and pen drawings to create texture and movement that matches the emotion in McKissack's colloquial dialogue and text. Details that Harrison develops--pictures drawn by James Otis stuck to the refrigerator, portraits mingling colors and shapes--perfectly complement the way McKissack frames the idea of an interconnected community, one that gives of itself and its people to sustain each other and survive.” Read more here.

— Shelf Awareness, Starred Review