It encourages them to be who they truly are. Hachett, When Andrea Davis Pinkney spoke at the biennial, Children’s Literature Institute at Simmons College, this summer she said that one of her go-to sayings as an editor and advocate of diverse children’s books is “Show the face.” In other words, on book jackets and in picture book art, illustrations should prominently and regularly show the faces of children of color as a visual means of centering them and their experiences. "Hey Black Child" by Useni Eugene Perkins addresses the changes in the world that need to be made. A call for young people of color to stand up and change their country, this picture book belongs on the shelves of every public library. I recently sat down to re-read it more completely and to take time with the illustrations. In 2017, Perkins published a children's book with an illustrated version of the poem.[7]. I continued my research and found this in the KIRKUS REVIEW"A poem by a celebrated Chicago playwright and long beloved within the Black History Month tradition about the achievement, potential, and ancestral joy incubated within the black experience.Readers who Google “Hey Black Child” will come across bevies of joyous videos of children as young as 3, both solo and in chorus, reciting this poem to enthralled crowds of families and friends. I honor the author and hope he or she is given proper credit. Using collage and paintings, the illustrations are layered and lovely. The illustrator took note of that in matching the illustrations to the words. Yet the real genius behind this poem is Perkins, a longtime committed poet, playwright, and social worker in Chicago. To learn all that they can learn. Useni Eugene Perkins's affirming poem assuring Black children that they are capable of whatever they set their minds to do is paired with Bryan Collier's rich, detailed artwork in this inspiring picture book. Interior art follows suit, with the children depicted on the jacket each starring in a separate series of spreads with words and pictures that affirm their individual potential and greatness. Start by marking “Hey Black Child” as Want to Read: Error rating book. The lines on the first spread read: “Hey Black Child/ Do you know who you are?/ Who you REALLY ARE/ Do you know you can be/ What you want to be/ If you try to be/ What you CAN BE.”, These affirming words don’t offer a specific vision for who the Black child addressee is, which leaves the door open for Collier to move from the general to the specific in his artwork. ‘Hey, Black Child’ by Countee Cullen is a four stanza poem that is separated into three sets of seven lines and one final set of six. There are many, many things I admire about Collier’s work in this book and in others, and his dedication to “show[ing] the face” is among them. In the book, there are black child. https://readingspark.wordpress.com/2016/09/14/picture-this-reflecting-diversity-in-childrens-book-publishing/, American Indians in Children's Literature, Indigo's Bookshelf: Voices of Native Youth, Research on Diversity in Youth Literature, https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/, http://doreenrappaport.com/martins-big-words/, http://www.thepicturebooklab.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/WP_20131013_00620131013160345.jpg. [2], Useni Eugene Perkins was born on September 13, 1932, in Chicago, Illinois, to Marion Perkins, a sculptor, and Eva Perkins. A key word in each stanza stands out from the group, and those words are all about empowerment, compassion, and strength. Megan Dowd Lambert with Useni Eugene Perkins and Bryan Collier at ALA Annual 2017. “Hey Black Child” is a anthem to show you can do anything you try. Contributor portraits are by Lisa Nowlain, librarian and artist. Poet Useni Eugene Perkins' simple but poetic words, addressed to black children, offer affirmation and encouragement in this picture-book, highlighting that by doing and learning what they can, they will eventually be able to do and learn what they want. The message of this poem is loud and clear. when this title won a 2011 Caldecott Honor when I was on the committee, but it was a prior Caldecott Honoree. Good book for one on one reading, or a unit on self actualization. Please support this website by adding us to your whitelist in your ad blocker. The first line is accompanied by an extreme close-up of the same picture of the boy depicted on the back of the jacket, his larger-than life, smiling face filling the recto and arresting the reader’s gaze. This gets at the heart of the poem, that this child is so much more than the world has led him/her to believe.

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