Children of Promise: African-American Literature and Art for Young People

Poetry,Songs,and Other writing by over 27 authors such as James Baldwin, Benjamin Banneker, Imamu Amiri Baaka, Arna Bontemps, Gwedolyn Brooks Margaret Danner, Frederick Douglass, W.E.B Du Bois, Boby Dylan, Mari Evans. Lorraine Hansberry, France E.W. Harper, Robert Hayden, Julia Ward Howe, Langston Hughes, Thomas Jefferson, James Weldon Johnson, Absalom Jones, Martin Luther King, Jr. Abraham Lincoln, Dudley Randall, Harry S Truman, Mark Twain, Margaret Walker, Booker T. Washingto, Phillis Wheatley, Walter Whitman and others. Paintings, Drawings, Photographs, and other works of Art by over 30 people a wondeful for children and adults alike.

This book presents an attractive and appealing introduction for children. It provides brief biographical notes (1-2 sentence) and many of the poems and prose are simply snippets, but it's designed to whet the appetite for something more, something it does admirably.

Have you ever tried to teach a classroom of 30 or more 8th graders of varying abilities to read and focus? Try it, and I recommend this book in your classroom, also a textbook called African American Literature (Holt, Rinehart, & Winston), lyrics to new popular songs and golden oldies... etc. Back to the book, VERY much fun. Has poetry by Langston Huges, Gwendolyn Brooks, etc. A plethora of unique artwork! Interesting biographical notes in the back of the famous African Americans referred to in the book such as James Baldwin, Lucille Clifton, and Jimi Hendrix.

"This is the most important book of the decade." Around Town, WETA-TV, Washington, D