Listen To The Music Of Her Words

We read their words.  We listen to their words.  We study their words.  Their words sing to our souls and enter our beating hearts.

Like composers of musical masterpieces, poets supply us with the ability to create our own melodies from their words.  Surely some of those melodies we make are the same, but others will resonate in differing harmonies.  In her eighty-three years one wonderful woman left her poetic mark on the world.  A Song for Gwendolyn Brooks (Sterling Books for Children, January 1, 2019) written by Alice Faye Duncan (Memphis, Martin, And The Mountaintop: The Sanitation Strike of 1968)  with illustrations by Xia Gordon is a lovely and loving lyrical and stunning pictorial tribute.

I
SING a song for Gwendolyn Brooks
Sing it loud---a Chicago blues.

Skip to the beat of elevated trains.
They grumble, rumble, and roll real fast.

In 1925 Gwendolyn Brooks was eight years old, unsure of what was possible.  Even then she wrote daily in her journals while other girls and boys were at play.  Writing was a solitary experience for this gifted child.

Her father worked as a janitor to support his family.  Her mother stayed at home.  A younger brother was Gwendolyn's best friend.  Gwendolyn watches the world of her Chicago home and it watches her.  Others are not always kind.

Her parents see her gift and support it completely.  When accused of plagiarism by a school teacher, Mrs. Brooks marches with her daughter back to school and settles the matter immediately.  Gwendolyn pens an original poem on the spot.  Now this beautiful child understands what her parents have always known.

She is allowed to write instead of working inside or outside of their home.  Before graduating high school, her poetry is published in the Chicago Defender.  Her mother declares how high her fame will go.

Gwendolyn studies with other poets, she wins a contest, she graduates from college, marries and a son is born to her and her husband.  She writes and writes, and her fame grows.  In 1950 Gwendolyn Brooks wins a Pulitzer Prize; the first Black American to win this award.  Her mother was right.


Within seconds you find the fibers in your being, your breathing, syncing to the rise and fall of the stanzas written by Alice Faye Duncan.  Each of the nine portions of her narrative about poet Gwendolyn Brooks begins with

SING a song for Gwendolyn Brooks.

This joyful declaration is followed by individual incidents, descriptions of her days and family life and being a part of the community on the South Side of Chicago.  Alice Faye Duncan includes several of Gwendolyn Brooks' poems to emphasize her biographical portrait.  Here is a passage,

VI
SING a song for Gwendolyn Brooks.
Chicago teems with Black sharecroppers from Dixie towns.

While jobs are scarce in the Great Depression,
Migrants slog and scrounge for decent work.

Gwen is Sweet Sixteen in '33.
She is feathery voice and flickering flame.
She gushes and giggles over Shakespeare sonnets.

Her parents are wise and see her light.
They do not yell, "Go mop the floor!"
And when high school chums must look for work,
Gwendolyn is free to sit and think.


The front of the dust jacket (I am working with a digital copy of the book.) is completely breathtaking.  The color palette radiates warmth and light and the pure truth of knowing you have chosen the right path for your life.  This is the face of a woman you want to know.  This is the face of an astonishing human being.

The opening and closing endpapers appear to be a dark gray with pale yellow scroll work of leaves and flowers in diagonal rows.  This is in direct reference to opening and closing selections of Alice Faye Duncan's narrative.  On the title page the lively smiling face of Gwendolyn Brooks looks to the left of readers.

Each of the distinctive illustrations by Xia Gordon appear to be a double-page picture even if a section seems to be a separate full page.  The hues used blend seamlessly from left to right.  For most of the images a pale yellow, almost cream, figures prominently connecting one page to the next.  Her people and other significant elements are created with smooth flowing lines and a noticeable use of highlights and shadows.

One of my many favorite illustrations spans two pages.  The text references the neighborhood where Gwendolyn lives with her husband and son.  This community fuels her writing.  Xia Gordon chooses to focus on a church and its steeple going through the clouds.  Shades of orange, yellow, red and purple color the buildings.  Clouds gather and swirl in tan, cream and white.


This biographical accolade to this remarkable poet, A Song for Gwendolyn Brooks written by Alice Faye Duncan with illustrations by Xia Gordon, is marvelous, uplifting and inspirational.  It would be an excellent choice for an introduction to writing, a study of American poets, a unit on biographies or the art of writing poetry.  At the close of the book there is an author's note, Gwendolyn Brooks timeline, suggested reading by Gwendolyn Brooks and a bibliography.  I highly recommend this title for your professional and personal collections.

To learn more about Alice Faye Duncan and Xia Gordon and their other work, please follow the links attached to their names to access their websites.  Both Alice Faye Duncan and Xia Gordon have accounts on Twitter.  Alice Faye Duncan and Xia Gordon are also on Instagram.  The cover reveal and an interview can be found at A Fuse # 8 Production hosted by Elizabeth Bird.  Alice Faye Duncan is interviewed by author Deborah Kalb.


Educator Alyson Beecher is hosting the 2019 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge at Kid Lit Frenzy.  I am very grateful for this opportunity to participate and to find other nonfiction books.

Wordsmith Extraordinaire

When you sit in a classroom knowing the answer but are afraid to raise your hand, you find solace in realizing you are right.  When you've been banished to the bench knowing you could assist your team if only given the opportunity, you find solace in past experiences.  When you sit alone as other groups gather, you find solace in your unique individualism and gifts.

As a slave in the United States the chance to attend school, join a team or create a circle of friends was not available.  Days were defined by back-breaking work and horrific living conditions.  One boy found solace in words, sustaining him for his entire life.  His days are passionately portrayed in Poet: The Remarkable Story of George Moses Horton (Peachtree Publishers, September 1, 2015) by author illustrator Don Tate.

GEORGE LOVED WORDS.  He wanted to learn how to read, but George was enslaved.  

A master's approval for a slave learning to read was unlikely to happen.  Everything was about work.  George still gathered words he heard, weaving them together like a cloak of comfort.  He listened and learned the alphabet as white children studied.

A gift of a hymnal from his mother, even though he could not understand the words, was a promise.  The discovery of an old spelling book was all he needed to pursue the possibilities in that promise.  Alone in the dark by the light of a small fire, George Moses Horton learned to read.

Like water released from a dam, George read everything his eyes touched but what he loved the most was poetry.  Not only did he find pleasure in the reading of poems but he formed lines of poetry in his mind, keeping them safe until he could learn to write.  When he was seventeen George's life changed dramatically.  He was given to the master's son.

The best time was Sundays when he was allowed to walk eight miles to the campus of the University of North Carolina.  As he sold crops grown on the master's farm, to shield himself from the taunts of the students, he opened his mouth releasing those stored poetic words.  The students were enthralled.  George's life changed again.

Books were given to him.  Requests for poems were asked of him.  He was paid in money and other items for his beautiful words.  He was taught to write by a professional.  He was still the slave of the master's son.

His words were published.  An arrangement was made so he could write full time.  Money was raised to buy his freedom.  He was still the slave of the master's son.

The Civil War altered George's life once more not for the good until it ended.  He was sixty-six when he was no longer the slave of the master's son.  Words, wonderful words, had sustained this marvelous man, this poet.


By the time I finished the first page of this biography today, even though I have read it before, the words written by Don Tate brought tears to my eyes.  Perhaps it is the sharp contrast between sharing a few hours with students in a classroom hours earlier and the longing felt by George Moses Horton who wanted to learn to read but could not attend school.  Most certainly it's the carefully researched narrative placed on each page, descriptive, nearly lyrical and deeply moving.  Here is a sample passage.

Then George found an old spelling book.  It was tattered and some pages were missing, but it was enough to get him started.
George thumbed through its pages.  He recognized some of the letters.
At night, when he should have been resting after a long day of work,
George studied by firelight.  His eyes burned from the smoke. 


Pride in hard-won accomplishments radiates from George Moses Horton on the matching dust jacket and book case.  Those same wide flowing lines seen here are used within the body of the book to display text or heartwarming or heart wrenching events.  On the back, to the left, inset in this image is George, poetic words coming from his mind as he pushes a cart laden with fruits and vegetables to the university.  On the opening and closing endpapers with a background appearing like parchment or very old paper, Don Tate has lines streaming like ribbons from two different works by Horton.  Two title pages depict George at the university and on the farm working, always working.

Illustrations may span edge to edge across two pages, appear as a large inset in a double-page picture, or as smaller vignettes.  The insets are framed but one or more elements may extend beyond the boundary.  Historically accurate architecture, attire and landscape are depicted.  The facial expressions of George and the other people in his world are exquisite in their portrayal of particular moments.

Rendered in mixed media, gouache, archival ink, and pencil on acid-free, 100% cotton watercolor paper and digital the illustrations are illuminating.  We are acutely aware of every facet of George's life presented.  One of my several favorite illustrations is of George teaching himself to read.  Stars are strewn across a night sky as he rests on his elbows studying the old, torn spelling book.  He is on a small hill with a tiny fire burning.  Behind him a small, wooden, windowless shack is placed in the lower, left-hand corner.  Clothes are drying on a line.  It is inspirational and hopeful.


Poet:  The Remarkable Story of George Moses Horton written and illustrated by Don Tate is one of the finest picture book biographies of this year.  No personal or professional bookshelf should be without a copy.  At the close of the book Tate includes a page of resources, an extensive two-page Author's Note and a page of acknowledgements.

You will want to learn more about Don Tate and his other books by accessing his website via the link attached to his name.  This link takes you to a page on the site dedicated to this title.  You might like to read his launch week post linked here.  John Schumacher, Scholastic Ambassador for School Libraries, revealed the book trailer on his blog, Watch. Connect. Read. along with a guest post by Tate.  Five Questions for Don Tate, Author of Poet: The Remarkable Life of George Moses Horton can be found at UNC Library News and Events. Don Tate is a guest at author, reviewer and blogger Julie Danielson's Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast and at teacher librarian Matthew C. Winner's Let's Get Busy Podcast #184.  


Make sure you stop by Kid Lit Frenzy hosted by educator Alyson Beecher to see the other titles selected by bloggers participating in the 2015 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge this week.