Enjoyable collection of poetry. I found several that resonated with me, and I think there's something here for everyone. Dunbar's style varied a lot in this collection. (To me, that's a good thing.) The art is pretty, also. ( )

This is a book of poems about African Americans. My two favorites were Dawn and Goodnight. Most of the poems are written about African American children. ( )

A collection of poems that exposes the beauty of the African Americans. They include four love poems, four children/baby poems, two autobiography poems, one about Douglass, the other about a sand man and two about nature/animals. All in all, the set of collections were fairly neutral, but a little depressing all at once. A good book for 3-5 graders to read for pleasure and an insightful, active author of the past. ( )

Dunbar, P. L., Pinkney, A. D., & Bryan, A. (1999). Jump back, honey: the poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar. New York: Jump at the Sun/Hyperion Books for Children.

In this collection of poems by Paul Laurence Dubar, readers are exposed to the poet’s incredible array of styles. From the pastoral influence in “A boy’s summer song” to the African-American experience in “The colored band,” Dubar uses vivid imagery to paint strong pictures in the reader’s mind. Experimenting with rhythm and rhyming patterns, the poet shows a wide range of influences—from the conventional language and structure of “Douglass” to the exploration of African-American dialect and everyday life in “When Malindy sings” and “Little brown baby.” Sometimes it may be hard for the reader to reconcile these two very different sides of Dubar—one that sings the praise of a simple country lifestyle far removed from most of his contemporaries or present readers in very conventional language and style and the other who finds creative material in the life of the African-American minority and its dialect. The tone also ranges dramatically, from angry and disillusioned in “Douglass” to melancholic in “Sparrow” to humorous in “When Malindy sings.” Some of the poems may be too complex for children; the simpler ones such as “Dawn,” “Good-night,” and “Rain-songs” seem more appropriate for younger ages while the politically-charged “Douglass” and the dialect-driven “A negro love song” and “Little brown baby” offer subject and language barriers that must be addressed before and during the time of reading. Dubar’s choice of vocabulary conveys the tome of each of his poems. In “Douglass,” his despair in face of racial discrimination can be felt in words such as evil, harsh, dissension, shivering, and lonely; “Morning,” on the other hand, expresses the poet’s joy in welcoming morning with vocabulary like greening, fairy, soothing, laughing, and song. The use of dialect shows Dubar’s respect and reverence for his people, their language, and their culture. The illustrations, creations of some of the most talented and respected African-American artists of our time, capture the mood of each poem brilliantly. The yellows and oranges used in the illustrations for “Dawn” convey the morning sky while the dark, blurry image for “Rain-songs” portray the eerie quality of a rainy day. This collection is a wonderful resource to introduce students to the importance of respecting one’s roots. The use of dialect will open the doors to many discussions about the power of language and how one’s identity shows through language choices. ( )

Dunbar, P.L.(1999),Hyperion.
Fern Kory (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, January 2000 (Vol. 53, No. 5))
In the brief biography of Dunbar that prefaces this illustrated collection of his poems, Ashley Bryan and Andrea Davis Pinkney point out that during his lifetime Dunbar “was both praised and criticized for his poems written in Black dialect.” This collection centers on four of the best known of these lively poems, with their driving rhythms and engaging stories, while also offering others written in the more conventionally poetic English typical of turn-of-the-century verse. Each of these fourteen poems is accompanied by a striking illustration by one of five distinguished African-American illustrators (each of whom also contributes a brief personal comment on their relationship to Dunbar’s poetry in an “About the Artists” section). The eclectic illustrations include two Faith Ringgold story quilts as well as works in tempera and gouache (Bryan), oils (Byard), acrylic and oils (Gilchrist), pencil and watercolor (Jerry Pinkney), and scratchboard, luma dyes and acrylics (Brian Pinkney). They successfully capture the drama of the moment “W’en de colo’ed ban’ comes ma’chin’ down de street,” the more tranquil moments “when sparkling eyes/ Troop sleepywise” or when “the dew-drops shine like fairy rain,” and the color of a mythic moment when “an angel, robed in spotless white,/ Bent down and kissed the sleeping Night.” While both dialect and the use of archaic/poetic diction can present some difficulties for young readers and for readers aloud, the individuality and mastery each artist brings to the task of interpreting the culturally significant texts in this child-friendly sampler offer a rich experience to readers, listeners, and gazers. Jump back and get it.

Best Books:
Adventuring with Books: A Booklist for Pre-K-Grade 6 13th Edition, 2002 ; National Council of Teachers of English; United States
The Best Children's Books of the Year, 2000 ; Bank Street College of Education; United States
Children's Catalog, Eighteenth Edition, 2001 ; H.W. Wilson; United States
Los Angeles' 100 Best Books, 1999 ; IRA Children's Literature and Reading SIG and the Los Angeles Unified School District; United States
Notable Books for Children, 2000 ; American Library Association-ALSC; United States ( )