Author Andrea Davis Pinkney recommends The Dream Keeper and Other Poems, written by Langston Hughes and illustrated by Brian Pinkney. “When I was in middle school, my mom, an eighth grade English teacher, brought me a very special gift from the library, The Selected Poems of Langston Hughes, a collection of poems that celebrates the beauty and power of African American people. Hughes’s narratives are like music and sermon, rolled into one. I loved that book so much, and, to this day, have never returned it to the library. Mom’s gift sparked my interest in all of Hughes’s work, and when I found The Dream Keeper and Other Poems, it was like meeting up with an old friend who had new splendors to share.”
The Dream Keeper and Other Poems (Knopf Books for Young Readers, 1996) is recommended for ages 8-12.
Be sure to check out Pinkney’s book The Red Pencil (Littlle, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2014), illustrated by Shane W. Evans.
Learn more at AndreaDavisPinkney.com.
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