The Purple One: A Story of Prince

Named after his father’s jazz band and called Skipper by his mother, Prince Rogers Nelson (1958–2016) was teased for his small stature before becoming a larger-than-life icon. Burgess employs brief anecdotes to detail Prince’s personality and arc toward stardom: his hopping onto the stage at age 10 to dance at a James Brown concert, and his signing a “record-breaking three-album deal that guaranteed his creative control” at 19. What comes through is Prince’s hard work and creative vision (about the making of Purple Rain, “Prince didn’t listen to the doubts”) as well as his on-stage presence (“lightning-and-thunder bundled together”). In Thada’s colorblock shapes and velvety textures, a memorable closing spread depicts Prince as a child sitting on pillows atop a piano bench, across the gutter from an adult Prince playing for a packed-out crowd—connecting Prince’s adulthood with his childhood as a “small kid with enormous talent.” Background characters are portrayed with various skin tones. Creators’ notes and quotation sources conclude. Ages 6–9. (Nov.)