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beths0103's review
5.0
"I'm madly scribbling words down now, rapidly one after another. (Poems are like rainbows, don't you think? They escape if you're not quick!)"
This is the story of Langston Hughes' train ride to visit his father in 1920 where he was inspired to write one of his most famous poems "The Negro Speaks of Rivers". It is also the moment he began to believe in himself as a writer.
Imaginative and striking, Leonard Jenkins' illustrations transport you through a young Langston's journey with his bold strokes and haunting facial expressions. It's as if Hughes is boring into your soul with his determined gaze.
Equally as stunning is Robert Burleigh's ability to bring the reader inside Langston's emotions as he discovers his inspiration for this iconic work of American literature.
Langston Hughes is probably my favorite poet of all time. When I took African American literature in college, I remember Hughes' writing being the most vivid and empathetic of the writers we studied. As a white woman of privilege, I can't claim to understand the plight of African Americans in our country. Hughes helped me to view this plight with empathy, compassion, and greater understanding. His writing makes you feel a solidarity with our African American brethren and ignites a desire for deference and contrition.
This picture book stirs up those same emotions in me as Hughes' poems themselves. As Tom Stoppard once said about words: "If you get the right ones in the right order, you can nudge the world a little." Writers like Langston Hughes were able to do that with their words and books like this that pay such reverent homage to one such man should be commended and celebrated.
This is the story of Langston Hughes' train ride to visit his father in 1920 where he was inspired to write one of his most famous poems "The Negro Speaks of Rivers". It is also the moment he began to believe in himself as a writer.
Imaginative and striking, Leonard Jenkins' illustrations transport you through a young Langston's journey with his bold strokes and haunting facial expressions. It's as if Hughes is boring into your soul with his determined gaze.
Equally as stunning is Robert Burleigh's ability to bring the reader inside Langston's emotions as he discovers his inspiration for this iconic work of American literature.
Langston Hughes is probably my favorite poet of all time. When I took African American literature in college, I remember Hughes' writing being the most vivid and empathetic of the writers we studied. As a white woman of privilege, I can't claim to understand the plight of African Americans in our country. Hughes helped me to view this plight with empathy, compassion, and greater understanding. His writing makes you feel a solidarity with our African American brethren and ignites a desire for deference and contrition.
This picture book stirs up those same emotions in me as Hughes' poems themselves. As Tom Stoppard once said about words: "If you get the right ones in the right order, you can nudge the world a little." Writers like Langston Hughes were able to do that with their words and books like this that pay such reverent homage to one such man should be commended and celebrated.
crystal_reading's review
4.0
This book tells about the train ride experience of Langston Hughes that led to the writing of A Negro Speaks of Rivers. This would be such a great book to use when sharing the picture illustrated by E.B. Lewis. It would also fit well with I, Too am America. These three together would be pretty incredible as they all deal with Langston Hughes' realization that he was a poet - that he too could "sing America."
beecheralyson's review
4.0
This one will tie in nicely with my plans for a literacy cafe about the Harlem Renaissance. Focus of the book on Langston Hughes' inspiration for The Negro Speaks of Rivers
dlauron's review
5.0
This is a poem written about writing poems on a train ride. It was musical and the illustrations are great. I originally picked up the book for Black History Month, but I hadn't gotten around to reading it until now. I truly enjoyed it.
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