The dream keeper and other poems Including seven additional poems

Review by Booklist Review

Gr. 4-12. 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. (Reviewed Mar. 15, 1994)067984421XHazel Rochman

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

---

Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

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.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

---

Review by Horn Book Review

Pinkney brings a vigorous, contemporary look to the pictures that accompany each of Hughes's sixty-six poems, which, though written over a quarter century ago, have the same strength of meaning and power as if written for today's readers. The splendid combination of timeless words and timely illustrations includes seven selections that did not appear in earlier editions. From HORN BOOK 1994, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

---