Andrea Davis Pinkney

A Poem for Peter - Andrea D. Pinkney
5 stars

The Snowy Day was not a book of my own childhood, but it was one of my top ten favorite read-alouds as a kindergarten teacher. In 1962, Ezra Jack Keats was breaking ground when he used a little black boy in the illustrations of his charming story. When I began teaching in the 1980s there were slightly more minority children appearing in picture books, but Peter remained a top choice.

Sometimes I forget how much I enjoyed being a teacher. I retired show more after 32 years with considerable job burnout. Andrea Pinkney’s Poem for Peter touched a sweet spot in my memories. The poet writes as if she is speaking to Peter, a ‘brown sugar boy in a blanket of white’. She is telling him the unique story of his creation the way a parent might tell a young child about the day they were born.

The book becomes a simple biography of Ezra Jack Keats. His parents were Polish Jews who immigrated to the United States. Keats was born in Brooklyn in 1916. Pinkney connects the early hardships of Keats’ life to the urban setting of his classic picture book. It’s a wonderful tribute to Keats, his life and his art.

The reading level of this book would make it suitable for eight to ten year olds. I could write a month’s worth of lesson plans using the original book and its tribute. Fortunately, I have no need to do so.

It was a perfect book for a retired kindergarten teacher. It did bring back some very happy memories. There’s also a hopeful message threaded through this book about a book and its creator. I found it to be a soothing antidote to current events. show less

Twelve-year-old Amira narrates what life is like on her family's farm -- hard work but also great love between the family members. But when militia attack her village, Amira's life is never again the same. Moving to a refugee camp with her family is incredibly difficult, but Amira starts to find hope once again...

This was a wonderfully done story, written in prose verse with gray-scale illustrations. The 'novel in verse' format doesn't always work out great, but here it is fantastic. I felt show more like I really got a sense of Amira's voice and personality, as well as a story that was compelling me to read on. The illustrations are lively and feel like they could be Amira's creative expressions.

I also appreciated that while the story doesn't shy away from difficult topics (e.g., war, death, even child marriages), it doesn't laser in on those with gratuitous horror. The focus is always on hope and the possibility of what's next. The idea that education can help change the world leaves for a cautiously optimistic ending.

Backmatter includes a note from the author explaining some of her inspiration and meticulous research; a glossary of Arabic words and one of English terms that might be new to young readers; and a pronunciation guide.

The only reason I don't give this book a full 5 stars is one thing did not sit right with me. Amira's younger sister Leila is born with some physical maladies and while it's lovely that the family says they embrace her and love her no matter what, Amira is constantly referring to her as 'bent,' 'broken,' 'crooked,' etc. I wasn't a fan of that.

Still, I highly recommend this beautifully told tale overall and will leave you with my favorite poem from it:
TO...

To craft letters.
To see reading's beauty.
To write English.
To recite the Koran, our holy book.
To know reading's music.

To me, these are wondrous treasures. show less

The multiaward-winning Pinkneys’ requiem lovingly explains in a set of “docu-poems” the events surrounding Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, particularly the Memphis sanitation workers’ strikes that brought him to the city where he eventually died.

The author humanizes King through the love he has for his family and movement comrades (including an April 4, 1968, pillow fight with his brother, Andrew Young, and Ralph Abernathy) as well as the viral bug he suffers with as he show more gives his last, prescient, and momentous “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech. The illustrator, blending influences of Marc Chagall and Norman Lewis, gives the story a loosely drawn, vibrantly warm, watercolor haze, which, with halos of yellows and oranges and even wings, give King and his family an almost beatific, if not saintly, glow, even in their sorrows. The character of Henny Penny, who is a blend of the fabled chicken and a wise black grandmother, provides the Greek-chorus narration in a device that is understandable if sometimes-distracting. Catholicism creates hagiographies to explain their martyrs’ and other saints’ deaths, whether history concurs with their feats for the faith or, in some cases, their very existences. Even as U.S. black communities wrestle with Dr. King’s personal foibles, media-glossed images, and complex messages, here readers have a children’s book in which adults may also find succor, if not inspiration, considering the current reverting-to–pre–Civil Rights administration.

Spiritually vital. (author’s and illustrator’s notes, history, timeline, bibliography) (Poetry. 8-adult)

-Kirkus Review show less

It took me a while to ease into this one, despite the excellent narrators in the audio book. By the end I was swept away, and really, blown away -- the messages delivered all along are strong. The messages at the end, about telling your own truth, and the importance of using your voice were amazingly powerful. Parts reminded me strongly of Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry -- not jut because of the time period and the setting, but something in the language and the cadence of the characters. The show more book feels like a carefully woven tapestry of African American family experience and could not be more effective at pointing out how much further we need to go. There are some graphically violent moments. There are parts that are hard to listen to and some that are transcendent. It's a really neat trick to have such a powerful written tribute to oral history, but I think Pinkney pulls it off. show less