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Summary

As the title suggests Poetry for Young People: African American Poetry is part of the excellent Poetry for Young People series published by Sterling Children’s Books. Coeditors Arnold Rampersad and Marcellus Blount have compiled a collection of poetry that are age appropriate for their audience from a distinguished group of African American poets, from slave poets through contemporary poets.

I recommend the book for children 8 and older and for families to read and discuss together.  The distinctive artwork by Karen Barbour complements, but does not compete with, the poetry and adds to the book’s appeal.

The Book’s Format and Organization

The thought-provoking four-page introduction by Arthur Rampersad provides a brief overview of the history of African-American poetry. From the poetry of Phillis Wheatley, a slave, to the rise of African American artists, musicians, and writers during the Harlem Renaissance, including Langston Hughes and James Weldon Johnson, to the black poets of the 1960s and '70s and later, Rampersad provides a framework for understanding the collection.

In addition, Arthur Rampersad points out one of the challenges black poets face: "On the one hand, the black poet must insist on the freedom to write on any and all subjects.  On the other hand, the African American poet often feels an obligation to write about the injustices blacks faced and continue to face."

While each poem can be enjoyed on its own, I greatly appreciated two additions by the coeditors: Before each poem, there is a paragraph of information about the poet and the poem that helps put it in context. At the bottom of the page, words from the poem that young readers may be unfamiliar with, are briefly described. Each poem is also accompanied by an illustration.

The design of Poetry for Young People: African American Poetry also makes thebook easy to navigate. With both a table of contents and an index, readers can quickly find specific poems and poets.

Artist Karen Barbour used watercolor, ink and collage to create her illustrations. What I like about them is that they don’t overwhelm the poetry; they are simply another interpretation of the poet’s words to think about and value for themselves, as well as for any insights to the poetry that the reader may gain from them.

The Poets Included

Much of the list of the 28 poets who wrote the 33 poems in the book reads like a who’s who’s of prominent poets and writers, although there may also be poets unknown to you.  It is an excellent collection to share and discuss with children.

Among the poets included are Phillis Wheatley, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Langston Hughes, Richard Wright, Gwendolyn Brooks, Alice Walker, Nikki Giovanni, James Baldwin and Lucille Clifton.  In some cases, they are more well known for their other writing than for poetry; in other cases, it is their poetry that brought them to the public’s attention.

Coeditors Arnold Rampersad and Marcellus Blount

Arnold Rampersad and Marcellus Blount, coeditors of Poetry for Young People: African American Poetry, both have backgrounds as university professors and writers. Arnold Rampersad is a professor emeritus of English at Stanford University. He coedited another book in Sterling’s Poetry For Young People series, Langston Hughes.

Rampersad’s books for adults include a number of biographies. Among them are Jackie Robinson: A Biography and his highly regarded two-volume biography The Life of Langston Hughes.

Marcellus Blount is Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University. He teaches American and African American literary and cultural studies.  In addition to his numerous essays, Blount served as coeditor of Representing Black Men.

(Sources: Stanford Department of English, Sterling Children’s Books)

Illustrator Karen Barbour

Karen Barbour earned her MFA in film from the San Francisco Art Institute. Her artwork has been exhibited in a number of galleries. Barbour is the author and illustrator of the picture books Mr. Williams and Little Nino's Pizzeria. She has also illustrated numerous picture books for other authors. These include: You Were Loved Before You Were Born, Fire! Fire! Hurry! Hurry!, I Have an Olive Tree, Marvelous Math: A Book of Poems and Let’s Talk About Race.

(Sources: Macmillan, HarperCollins, Illustration Friday)

My Recommendation

I highly recommend Poetry for Young People: African American Poetry for ages 8 and older as a book for families to share. I particularly recommend it for young people 10 to 14, who can appreciate the book for the poetry alone, for the poems and the introduction and commentary that provides context for the poems and for the glossary that clarifies each poem’s meaning. (Sterling Children’s Books, 2012. ISBN: 9781402716898)

Related Resources

While I was unable to find a discussion guide for the book, I did find an excellent general resource guide about African American poets and poetry. Download a PDF of the guide appropriate for your children: Dream in Color: Elementary School is a resource guide for elementary school teachers, but it also includes a section on parent and child activities, Dream in Color: Middle School, a resource guide for middle school teachers, contains information that will also be helpful to parents.