Reading Responses - Week 6 - Poetry

 Hello again! For this week’s assignment, I will be reflecting upon and giving an evaluation of four different books of poetry, I hope you enjoy reading!

    Brooks, Gwendolyn, and Ronni Solbert. 

    Bronzeville Boys and Girls. Harper & Row, Publishers, 1956.

    Library of Congress catalog card number: 56-8152

     For my first book selection, I have chosen Bronzeville Boys and Girls by Gwendolyn Brooks, pictures by Ronni Solbert, through Harper & Row, Publishers. The scope of this collection is composed of thirty-four poems, each reflecting a range of emotions experienced of childhood. A table of contents helps readers to find specific poems, and while the poems are connected through the theme of childhood emotions, they are not organized beyond being captured moments of growing up in the titular Chicago neighborhood. Published in 1956 and set within the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago, the author draws upon her childhood home of Bronzeville, Chicago, IL., for inspiration in her collection; although the context is within a specific framework and time period, Brook’s poetry speaks to universal, everyday childhood experiences and emotions of joy, hope, fear and sadness that are a part of growing up, no matter the era or location. Within the structures of the poems, there is variation in the meter of the poem, with some poems being only four lines, while other poems instead fill their pages with several lines. Consonance rhymes and meter are utilized by Brooks to capture the emotions within her poetry, whether she is trying to convey feelings of calmness, joy, fear or sadness in each poem (Horning, pg. 70).   

    The purpose of the poetry collection is to be a celebration of Brooks’ own childhood, specifically speaking from perspective of an African American woman’s experience growing up in the mid-century, as well as a dedication to the strong emotions experienced during childhood, both the positive and negative aspects, as a whole.  As described within the book jacket introduction, “The poems are set in Chicago, but their locale be any one of the crowded, teeming cities of America” (Brooks). The collection is intended for a children audience, and while the language may be somewhat outdated by today’s standards, an aspect of the book modern children may have some trouble following along with, ultimately, modern audiences can still relate to the feelings described within the page, such as the joys as child hosting a pretend tea party such as in Mexie and Birdie, the wonder found in snow days as written in the poem, Cynthia in the Snow, or experiencing the confusion which comes with growing up and not recognizing oneself in mirror day, such as in Robert, Who is Often a Stranger to Himself. Solbert’s black and white sketches may not be particularly eye-catching to young, modern readers, but the illustrations accompany Brooks’ poems well, highlighting the moments of childhood and the emotions of the poem within each section of the collection.  

 

    Ada, Alma Flor, et al. Yes! We Are Latinos: Poems and Prose about the Latino Experience.     Charlesbridge, 2016.

     ISBN 978-1-58089-549-1

     My second selection is Yes! We Are Latinos: Poems and Prose About the Latino Experience by Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy, pictures by David Diaz, published through Charlesbridge. This a wonderful collection of poems and essays capture the experience of being Latino and Latinia across America, highlighting the great variety of cultures, heritage and different languages that that part of countless Latin-Americans’ backgrounds. The purpose of co-authors Campoy and Ada’s collection is to explore the significant diversity that is to be found in the Latin-American experience, underling that there is no “right” way to be Latin-American, nor is Latin-American heritage homogeneous, but is instead a diverse tapestry spread across different countries and communities.

    The narratives of the poems are fictional, but they still are reflective of the real emotions and experiences of Latino people across America, with poems being accompanied by author notes which discuss the historical background and context for different Latino cultures throughout the book, along with beautiful black and white illustrations by Diaz capture the emotions and prose of the poetry while highlighting the art styles of Latin origins. Each poem varies in length, depending on the feeling the meter intends to invoke in the reader or the description of the Latino or Latina experience, whether the poem is meant to invoke contemplation about one’s own heritage and place in the world, or kept in short lines in order to stress the intensity of the narrator’s emotions. In addition to the poetry and information author notes between each section, the book also includes a tale of contents to help readers find a particular poem or informative entries, the back of the book includes acknowledgements where the authors thank everyone has helped inspire their work, s bibliography for teachers and parents to browse, and pages dedicated to further resources for readers of different age groups. The audience seems intended for older elementary, middle and high school children, specifically of Latino and Latinia American heritage, who may be having questions or become more reflective about their cultural background as they grow up, however, as the authors state within their book dedication “To all children, la Esperanza del mundo, the hope of the world” (Ada and Campoy, 2013).

     Harjo, Joy, and Michaela Goade. Remember. 

    Random House Studio, 2023. ISBN 978-0-593-48484-5

    My third selection, Remember by Joy Harjo, with illustrations by Michaela Goade, published through Random House Studio, is an adaptation of a singular poem told throughout the thirty-page book. The purpose of the book is intended by author Harjo for her audience of young readers to read her poem, pause and reflect on their own sense of self, their place in the world and to contemplate on how all people, all life, on Earth are connected together. Harjo incorporates imagery connected to her Mvskoke Nation heritage into the book, reflected in both her text and Goade’s breathtaking illustrations which accommodate Harjo’s moving words on each page. Harjo’s poem is told through two-to-four lines per pages, the meter of the poem to draw the readers’ attention to meaning and impact of the poet’s words, with the gorgeous warm red and cooling blues of the painted illustrations working in tandem to truly convey Harjo’s message behind the poem of her audience stopping to reflect upon the beauty of life and human connection.

 

     Mak, Kam. My Chinatown: One Year in Poems. Harpercollins Publishers, 2002. 

    ISBN 0-06-029191-5

    My fourth selection is My Chinatown: One Year in Poems by Kam Mak, published through HarperCollins Publishers. Written and illustrated by Mak, his collection is composed of fifteen poems. Written in free verse and organized into a narrative of a young boy who moves with his family from Hong Kong to Chinatown in New York, told over the course of a year, beginning and ending on the Chinese New Year. The poems on each convey the boy’s journey, his feelings of homesickness and dislike of the differences in America, slowing beginning to enjoy his new community until reconciling both Hong Kong and Chinatown as being home to him in the New Year. Illustrated with gorgeous, realistic paintings which mimic the impression of real-life photographs, the readers are able to immerse themselves into the poems’ narrative, accompanying Mak’s verses, helping readers to empathize with the narrator’s homesickness for Hong Kong transform into love his new home and community in Chinatown. The audience of the book is intended for elementary-aged children, but the story of the poem collection can resonate with readers of all ages, anyone who was experienced moving, significant change, homesickness or grown up belonging to more than one culture.

 

 

 

 

                                            Works cited

    Ada, Alma Flor, et al. Yes! We Are Latinos: Poems and Prose about the Latino Experience.     Charlesbridge, 2016.

     ISBN 978-1-58089-549-1

    Brooks, Gwendolyn, and Ronni Solbert. Bronzeville Boys and Girls. Harper & Row, Publishers, 1956.

    Library of Congress catalog card number: 56-8152

    Harjo, Joy, and Michaela Goade. Remember. Random House Studio, 2023. ISBN 978-0-593-48484-5

    Horning, Kathleen T. From Cover to Cover: Evaluating and Reviewing Children’s Books. Revised ed., Collins, 2010. 

    ISBN 978-0-06-077756-2

    Mak, Kam. My Chinatown: One Year in Poems. Harpercollins Publishers, 2002. 

    ISBN 0-06-029191-5