The People Could Fly: American Black Folktales
by Virginia Hamilton
from Knopf Books for Young Readers
Virginia Hamilton, Newbery Medal winner and recipient of the National Book Award and the Hans Christian Andersen Award, teams up with two-time Caldecott Medal winners, Leo and Diane Dillon, in this classic collection of American black folktales, winner of the Coretta Scott King Award. By turns droll, grisly, and spine-tingling, the 24 stories celebrate the indomitable human spirit, surviving under the most crushing circumstances of slavery. Traditionally, storytelling has helped people to push through sorrow and pain, especially when the stories are saturated with magic, mysticism, and fantasy. Bruh Rabbit, He Lion, Tar Baby, and other animals populate many of the stories. In others, John, the traditional trickster hero, outwits the slave owner time after time to win his freedom.
Included with this very special edition is a CD featuring the commanding voices of Hamilton and actor James Earl Jones. Eleven selections, including "The Peculiar Such Thing," "John and the Devil's Daughter," "A Wolf and Little Daughter," and "The People Could Fly," bring to life the rhythm and lyrical energy of Hamilton's text. Leo and Diane Dillon's strikingly beautiful black and white illustrations continue to mesmerize and haunt the reader. (All ages) --Emilie Coulter
"The well-known author retells 24 black American folk tales in sure storytelling voice: animal tales, supernatural tales, fanciful and cautionary tales, and slave tales of freedom. All are beautifully readable. With the added attraction of 40 wonderfully expressive paintings by the Dillons, this collection should be snapped up."--(starred) School Library Journal. Â
Coming Home
by Floyd Cooper
from Philomel
Young Langston Hughes was a dreamer. He dreamed about heroes like Booker T. Washington, who was black just like him. When he heard the clackety-clack of train wheels, he dreamed about the places it had been. But most of all, he dreamed about having a happy home. And so, one day, he began turning those dreams into beautiful prose. As he did, he discovered where his home really was--in the words and rhythms of his poetry that reached people all over the world. The beloved Langston Hughes comes to life in a book for poets, dreamers, children and adults --anyone who has ever thought of what home means to them. Teachers looking for a good way to introduce youngsters to this prominent poet will find this book to be an excellent accompaniment to his work. --School Library Journal Like Hughes' poetry, the power of Cooper's story is that it confronts sadness even as it transcends it. --Booklist His text is as inviting as his illustrations. --The New York Times Book Review
Ashley Bryan's ABC of African American Poetry
from Atheneum
Ashley Bryan's ABC of African American Poetry is not an alphabet book. Award-winning children's book author and former teacher Ashley Bryan has simply hit upon a straightforward way to present the work of his favorite African American poets: he uses a letter of each poem to organize the 25 excerpts and one African American spiritual. His vibrant artwork, with bold strokes of paint reminiscent of Vincent van Gogh, successfully captures the essence of each piece. "As I read," Bryan writes, "images sprang from the lines of the poets... Finally, I chose the sketches that offered a balanced play of images and did finished paintings from them in tempera paints and gouache colors."
Poems ranging from the intense to the whimsical reflect the diverse voices of poets such as Rita Dove, Lucille Clifton, and Gwendolyn Brooks. A colorful elephant stands solidly next to Countee Cullen's poem: "Dear Noah: Please save me a spot / Exposed to the sun, where the Mice are not; / But if I must share my chamber, the Ant / Is the one I should welcome. Yours: L. E. Phant." From Langston Hughes we hear, "There are words like Freedom / Sweet and wonderful to say. / On my heart-strings freedom sings / All day everyday." And Eloise Greenfield chimes in with "Harriet Tubman didn't take no stuff / Wasn't scared of nothing neither / Didn't come in this world to be no slave / And wasn't going to stay one neither." This innovative, easy-to-absorb, boldly illustrated introduction to a rich variety of African American poets would be a valuable addition to any child's bookshelf. (All ages)
Why an alphabet book of African American poets? Simply as a way of presenting the work of many poets, poets who write for adults as well as children, in a form that both children and adults can enjoy. Though this is not an alphabet book in the traditional sense, it is an A to Z look at twenty-five poems and one African American spiritual selected by Ashley Bryan from a wide range of African American poets.
His selections are, for the most part, not complete poems, but fragments -- samples that are complete in their own way, and that inspired him to create pictures that capture the essence of the poetry in another form. his marvelous paintings, in tempera and gouache, are his salute to the twenty-five poets whose works are included.
Well known for his story-telling, his picture books, his own poetry, and for his lectures on African American poetry, Ashley Bryan here gives readers of all ages a chance to share the joy he has experienced in the work of some of the poets he especially enjoys.
Richard Wright and the Library Card (Richard Wright & the Library Card)
by William Miller
from Lee & Low Books
Richard Wright, African American author of Black Boy and Native Son, grew up in the segregated South of the 1920s. His formal education ended after he completed the ninth grade, but gaining access to the public library with the help of a white coworker opened up a new world of books for him, eventually inspiring him to become a writer. Richard Wright and the Library Card is a fictionalized account of this powerful story, deftly adapted by William Miller from a scene in Black Boy.
Miller--a professor of African American literature and author of the critically acclaimed Frederick Douglass: The Last Day of Slavery, A House by the River, and Zora Hurston and the Chinaberry Tree-- masterfully builds suspense, as readers wonder how the young African American will quench his thirst for books without being busted by the local white librarian. Wright's story is perfectly complemented by the work of Gregory Christie, winner of the 1997 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Award for Palm of My Heart. (Ages 5 to 9)
As a boy in the segregated South, author Richard Wright was determined to borrow books from the public library. His story vividly illustrates the power of determination in making a dream into reality.
Zora Hurston and the Chinaberry Tree (Reading Rainbow Book)
by William Miller
from Lee & Low Books
The Palm of My Heart: Poetry by African American Children
from Lee & Low Books
When children give voice to their own feelings, the result can be magical. This touching and inspiring collection of poems by African-American children helps prove that point. Edited by Davida Adedjouma and lovingly illustrated by Gregory Christie, these 20 poems came out of a series of writing workshops with children who were encouraged to celebrate their lives, joys, influences and hopes. The results are pure poetry, honest, wise and encouraging: "Black is the color of some people/but people are different/differences are good because/no one else says the/same things as you." Not only will children find the poems interesting, they may just be inspired to explore their own feelings. All ages.
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