The Dream Keeper and Other Poems

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Overview

"HOLD FAST TO DREAMS / For if dreams die / Life is a broken-winged bird / That cannot fly."

The Dream Keeper, the great African-American writer Langston Hughes's only collection of poems for children, includes some of his best loved works. It is being reissued in a handsome hardcover edition in celebration of its 75th anniversary. Filled with elegant scratchboard illustrations by Caldecott Honor winner Brian Pinkey, and featuring an introduction by noted children's poet Lee ...

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Overview

"HOLD FAST TO DREAMS / For if dreams die / Life is a broken-winged bird / That cannot fly."

The Dream Keeper, the great African-American writer Langston Hughes's only collection of poems for children, includes some of his best loved works. It is being reissued in a handsome hardcover edition in celebration of its 75th anniversary. Filled with elegant scratchboard illustrations by Caldecott Honor winner Brian Pinkey, and featuring an introduction by noted children's poet Lee Bennett Hopkins, this gift edition is sure to be cherished by young readers and longtime poetry lovers alike.

A collection of sixty-six poems, selected by the author for young readers, including lyrical poems, songs, and blues, many exploring the black experience.

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Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly
Originally published in 1932, this edition of Hughes's vibrant poems includes seven additional poems and is enhanced by dynamic scratchboard art. All ages. (Dec.)
Children's Literature
Originally published in 1932 this 75th anniversary edition of Langston Hughes’s poetry is a treasure. Hughes’s optimistic and vibrant portrayal of the African American experience speaks to readers of any race or creed. There is a beauty captured in each of these poems that will bring the reader to them over and over again. These poems would make a strong starting point for any parent, teacher, or guardian who wishes to introduce poetry into a child’s life. The text itself contains the original poems in the collection along with seven additional poems. The additional poems were chosen because they were viewed as child-friendly. The book also includes an introduction by the children’s poet Lee Bennett Hopkins. The attractive hardcover text includes fluidly beautiful scratchboard illustrations. They enhance the reading experience and often seem to be a direct reflection of the words in each poem. This title would be an enriching and valuable asset to any elementary or junior high classroom setting. It would also be a beautiful gift for any child. Reviewer: Monserrat Urena
Hazel Rochman
Hughes' classic poetry collection, originally published for young people in 1932, is reissued here in a handsome new edition. It includes seven additional poems, a fine introduction by Lee Bennett Hopkins, and a personal afterword by Augusta Baker. Black-and-white scratchboard illustrations in Pinkney's signature style express the emotion and beat of the poetry, the laughter that hides pain, the celebration and the struggle of the African American experience, and the music of the weary blues. The poems are as powerful today as they were 60 years ago, colloquial and direct yet mysterious and complex. The simplicity of these lines makes them accessible to middle-graders but doesn't detract from their appeal to older readers. As Hopkins says, "Poem: I loved my friend" has become an elegy for separation and loss. History and the most private feeling "mingle themselves softly" in the voices that "cross and recross" here. Demanding to be spoken aloud, the words sing for all of us. There's no better way to show kids that poetry is about them than to share this collection.
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780780768178
  • Publisher: Random House Childrens Books
  • Publication date: 12/28/1996
  • Product dimensions: 6.60 (w) x 8.90 (h) x 0.60 (d)

Meet the Author

Langston Hughes, is the most widely recognized African-American poet of the twentieth century. Born in Mississippi in 1902, he spent most of his adult life in Harlem, where he died in 1967.

Brian Pinkney has received two Caldecott Honors, a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award and a Boston Globe-Horn Book Award.

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Table of Contents

Introduction x
The Dream Keeper
The Dream Keeper 2
Winter Moon 3
Dreams 4
Winter Sweetness 4
April Rain Song 6
Joy 7
After Many Springs 8
Quiet Girl 9
Fairies 10
Autumn Thought 11
Poem 12
Sea Charm
Sea Charm 14
Water-Front Streets 15
Long Trip 16
Death of an Old Seaman 17
Seascape 18
Sailor 18
Irish Wake 20
Beggar Boy 21
Parisian Beggar Woman 22
Mexican Market Woman 23
Sea Calm 24
Dressed Up
A Note on Blues 26
Dressed Up 27
Bound No'th Blues 28
Song 29
The Weary Blues 30
Negro Dancers 32
Song for a Banjo Dance 34
Reasons Why 35
Minstrel Man 36
Po' Boy Blues 37
When Sue Wears Red 38
A Black Pierrot 39
Wide River 41
Passing Love 42
Homesick Blues 43
Night and Morn 44
Feet o'Jesus
Feet o'Jesus 46
Baby 47
Ma Lord 48
Judgment Day 49
Lullaby 50
Prayer 52
Sinner 53
Prayer Meeting 54
Walkers with the Dawn
Walkers with the Dawn 56
Dream Variation 57
The Negro 59
My People 60
Sun Song 61
The Negro Speaks of Rivers 62
I, Too 63
Mother to Son 64
Youth 65
Alabama Earth 66
Lincoln Monument: Washington 67
Aunt Sue's Stories 68
As I Grew Older 70
African Dance 72
Additional Poems
Snail 74
Stars 75
Dream Dust 76
Color 76
Daybreak in Alabama 77
Merry-Go-Round 79
In Time of Silver Rain 80
A Personal Note 82
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