Poetry Book Review: "African American Poetry"

Citation:
Hughes, Langston. My people. New York, NY: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2009. Illustrator: Charles R. Smith Jr. ISBN: 978-1-4169-3540-7

Review:

This book is a short poem written by Langston Hughes honoring African Americans. The poem is accompanied by photographs. These photographs accented the text and gave a perfect visual of how to connect Langston's poem with nature and black people.

Excerpt:

"My People"

The night
is
beautiful,
so
the
faces
of
my
people.
The stars
are
beautiful,
so
the
eyes
of
my
people.
Beautiful,
also,
is the
sun.
Beautiful,
also,
are
the
souls
of
my
people.

Introducing the Poem:
The above poem is an excellent beginning for talking to older children about how poetry can be used to beautifully describe one's heritage and how photographs instead of drawings can accompany text.