Access to online readers is not really an issue for me if I play around with my work computer. However, I am not able to access all that I do wish to read. Thankfully I had access to Songbird in the Light: A Picture Book by Billy Porter and Chris Clarkson. This March 2026 picture book talks about the life and times of performer Billy Porter in a roundabout way. We do not do a deep dive, but we get the overall picture of someone that may or may not be in your pop culture knowledge by an event that could have happened to them. This event is finding the courage to sing their own song, their own way and allow others opinions to not matter.
And though I enjoyed this book, I was hoping for something that went deeper into the life of this person instead of an inspirational book of stepping outside your comfort zone and singing your soul-song. This is a book for the picture book crowd, but is not necessarily what you need to do your biography report on someone because it is not giving you the facts. Though you can get an idea of how illustrator Charly Palmer interpreted Porter and Clarkson’s words by how they match the energy of Porter’s own personality and the personality of the child of the story.
Add this book to your collection if you are a fan of Porters, books with characters of color or want to get in on the collecting of Palmer’s works as they are going to be someone to watch in the picture book world.