Product Description

A collection of poems, including "Golden Goodness," "Cranberry Red," and "Biscuit Brown," celebrating individuality and Afro-American identity.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #502995 in Books
• Published on: 2008-07-01
• Released on: 2008-07-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 32 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780060253752
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From School Library Journal
Grade 1–4—The varieties of African-American ethnic heritage are often rendered invisible by the rigid construction of racial identity that insists on polarities. This collection of 12 poems makes the complexities of a layered heritage visible and the many skin shades celebrated. Read-aloud-sized spreads offer luminous artwork that complements the verses in which children speak of their various hues: "I am midnight and berries…" a child says in the title poem. In another selection, a boy recalls his Seminole grandmother who has given him the color of "red raspberries stirred into blackberries." In "Cranberry Red," a child asserts that "it's my Irish ancestors/Who reddened the Africa in my face," understanding that "When we measure who we are/We don't leave anybody out." The large illustrations match the lyrical poetry's emotional range. Cooper's method includes "pulling" the drawing out from a background of oil paint and glazes. With his subtractive method, he captures the joy of these children—the sparkle of an eye, the width of a grin, the lovely depths of their skin, and the light that radiates from within. This book complements titles that explore identity, such as Katie Kissinger's All the Colors We Are (Redleaf, 1994).—Teresa Pfeifer, Alfred Zanetti Montessori Magnet School, Springfield, MA
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From Booklist
Black comes in all shades from dark to light, and each is rich and beautiful in this collection of simple, joyful poems and glowing portraits that show African American diversity and connections. In the title poem, a smiling girl says, “Because I am dark, the moon and stars shine brighter.” Other pages have fun with terms, such as skin deep and night shade. A grandma turns “Coffee will make you black”  from a warning into something great. A boy is proud to be raspberry black as he reads his great-great-grandmother’s journal about her love for her Seminole Indian husband. A girl says she is “cranberry red” from her father’s Irish ancestry. In the final, joyful double-page spread, the kids celebrate their individual identities and laugh together. Many families will want to talk about this and their own family roots: “We count who we are / And add to all who came before us.” Preschool-Grade 2. --Hazel Rochman

About the Author
Joyce Carol Thomas was born in Ponca City, Oklahoma, and now lives in California. A poet, novelist, and playwright, she has been honored with the National Book Award and the Coretta Scott King Author Award for her work. In her latest book of poetry, A Mother's Heart, A Daughter's Love: Poems for Us to Share, she reflects on the lifelong relationship between mothers and daughters.

Customer Reviews

Everyone is Beautiful!
Reviewed by Genevieve Chatel (age 8) for Reader Views (11/08)

The theme of this book is that everybody is beautiful no matter what and that it is okay to have different color skin. Each poem is different in its own way and I noticed in this book that the author talked about different colors of black skin, like golden skin or coffee-black skin or cranberry black skin.

In the poem "Skin Deep," the author mentions the line "Put yourself in someone else's skin" and pretend like you feel like that person feels. The poems made me really think about putting myself in someone else's skin and it made me think for the first time about how it would feel to be black.

One of my two favorite poems in this book is `Snowberries.' And the line that I really liked in this poem is "And I want to be as black/ as midnight/ and moonless water/ So no words can wound me."

The other poem I like is `Nightshade.' It says "I feel as purple/ As nightshade/ Of an eggplant/ That the great berry among berries/ Smooth skinned."

I like the pictures in "The Blacker the Berry: Poems" by Joyce Carol Thomas because they looked like grainy old photos or jean material. Also, they look really life-like, and these pictures remind me of old paintings. The children in these pictures seem very happy.

Wonderful!
This is a wonderful collection of poems about being different shades of black--all compared to different berries. I didn't even know some of these berries existed! Each poem comes in the first person narration of a child and they all have a great voice. A wonderful resource in the classroom, a great book for parents.

A great book for grades 1-4
This was a fun book to read, not just because of the simple but educational poetry, but also because the artwork is engaging. It must have taken Cooper a long time to paint them because of their photo-realistic quality. It's also a great book for young African American children to read in order to see the differences in their culture and why some of their own kin may look completely different than they do. I especially liked the line where a girl claims to be "cranberry red" from her father's Irish heritage. I recommend it to learning readers from ages 3 - 8.

-Lindsey Miller, [...]