Overview

HEY BLACK CHILD--do you know who you are? Who you really are? So begins the widely-recited poem by Useni Eugene Perkins, to be illustrated by award-winning illustrator Bryan Collier. An ode to black children, this empowering picture book is a celebration of African-American lives that promotes the self-esteem, making this both a timely and important book, especially in light of recent events across America. Useni Eugene Perkins's ""Hey Black Child"" was recently performed on Steve Harvey's show Little Big Shots by four-year-old Pe'Tehn (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOTZWdIyRJE) and, last fall, was recited by Pe'Tehn when she was three (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5n_DeHMVAkM), blowing away viewers and raising awareness for the confidence-building text.

Full Product Details

9780316360302

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Reviews

* By sharing his experience, explained in an afterword, Beaty lends his voice to children struggling with the absence of a parent and the grief that goes with it. --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Praise for Hey Black Child: A School Library Journal Top 20 Books of the Year Pick * This book dazzles in every way and is bound to inspire so many more viral videos of black children speaking their abundant futures into existence. All black children need to know Perkins' prideful poem, possibly by heart, because it's really that doggone good. --Kirkus Reviews, starred review * Collier's characteristic watercolor-and-collage masterpieces bring joy and gravity to Perkins's inspirational poem. With a compelling rhythm that begs for recitation, the verse celebrates the power and potential of black children... A rousing celebration and call to action, this book is a great choice for every library. --School Library Journal, starred review * Perkins's poem has always made for a stirring recitation; new and old fans will find that Collier's images do full justice to it. --Publishers Weekly, starred review The punchy text and the invigorating art make this a wonderful choice for story hours or classroom discussion where children can voice their own dreams. --Booklist

The punchy text and the invigorating art make this a wonderful choice for story hours or classroom discussion where children can voice their own dreams. --Booklist * Collier's characteristic watercolor-and-collage masterpieces bring joy and gravity to Perkins's inspirational poem. With a compelling rhythm that begs for recitation, the verse celebrates the power and potential of black children... A rousing celebration and call to action, this book is a great choice for every library. --School Library Journal, starred review * By sharing his experience, explained in an afterword, Beaty lends his voice to children struggling with the absence of a parent and the grief that goes with it. --Publishers Weekly, starred review Praise for Hey Black Child * This book dazzles in every way and is bound to inspire so many more viral videos of black children speaking their abundant futures into existence. All black children need to know Perkins' prideful poem, possibly by heart, because it's really that doggone good. --Kirkus Reviews, starred review Praise for City Shapes * Collier... pushes well beyond merely visually reiterating the items the text lists, and the result is a seamless interdependence of art and text that will allow readers to find the named items while also providing ample visual interest to reward poring over the illustrations. A visual feast of cityscape shapes. --Kirkus (starred review) Challenging but ultimately uplifting, Knock Knock is a thoughtful meditation on grappling with the sometimes uneasy legacy passed down to us by our parents. --The Huffington Post Bryan Collier's richly textured illustrations and the lyricism of Beaty's text-with its echoes of spoken-word poetry-make this story of bereavement also a story of possibility and beauty. --The New York Times Sunday Book Praise for Knock Knock: My Father's Dream for Me Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award WinnerALSC Notable Children's BookBoston Globe-Horn Book Awards Picture Book HonorNotable Children's Book in the English Language ArtsChildren's Book Committee at Bank Street College Best Books of the YearA Huffington Post Best Picture Book of the Year * Children will enjoy studying the illustrations to identify the various shapes as well as the scattered collage photos of greenery, people, buildings, and cars... A colorful look at city life as well as a fun way to teach shapes to young children. --School Library Journal (starred review) Praise for City Shapes * Collier... pushes well beyond merely visually reiterating the items the text lists, and the result is a seamless interdependence of art and text that will allow readers to find the named items while also providing ample visual interest to reward poring over the illustrations. A visual feast of cityscape shapes. --Kirkus (starred review)

Praise for Hey Black Child: A School Library Journal Top 20 Books of the Year Pick * This book dazzles in every way and is bound to inspire so many more viral videos of black children speaking their abundant futures into existence. All black children need to know Perkins' prideful poem, possibly by heart, because it's really that doggone good.--Kirkus Reviews, starred review * Collier's characteristic watercolor-and-collage masterpieces bring joy and gravity to Perkins's inspirational poem. With a compelling rhythm that begs for recitation, the verse celebrates the power and potential of black children... A rousing celebration and call to action, this book is a great choice for every library.--School Library Journal, starred review * Perkins's poem has always made for a stirring recitation; new and old fans will find that Collier's images do full justice to it.--Publishers Weekly, starred review The punchy text and the invigorating art make this a wonderful choice for story hours or classroom discussion where children can voice their own dreams.--Booklist

* By sharing his experience, explained in an afterword, Beaty lends his voice to children struggling with the absence of a parent and the grief that goes with it. --Publishers Weekly (starred review) Challenging but ultimately uplifting, Knock Knock is a thoughtful meditation on grappling with the sometimes uneasy legacy passed down to us by our parents. --The Huffington Post Bryan Collier's richly textured illustrations and the lyricism of Beaty's text-with its echoes of spoken-word poetry-make this story of bereavement also a story of possibility and beauty. --The New York Times Sunday Book Praise for Knock Knock: My Father's Dream for Me Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award WinnerALSC Notable Children's BookBoston Globe-Horn Book Awards Picture Book HonorNotable Children's Book in the English Language ArtsChildren's Book Committee at Bank Street College Best Books of the YearA Huffington Post Best Picture Book of the Year * Children will enjoy studying the illustrations to identify the various shapes as well as the scattered collage photos of greenery, people, buildings, and cars... A colorful look at city life as well as a fun way to teach shapes to young children. --School Library Journal (starred review) Praise for City Shapes * Collier... pushes well beyond merely visually reiterating the items the text lists, and the result is a seamless interdependence of art and text that will allow readers to find the named items while also providing ample visual interest to reward poring over the illustrations. A visual feast of cityscape shapes. --Kirkus (starred review)

Praise for Hey Black Child A School Library Journal Top 20 Books of the Year Pick * This book dazzles in every way and is bound to inspire so many more viral videos of black children speaking their abundant futures into existence. All black children need to know Perkins' prideful poem, possibly by heart, because it's really that doggone good. --Kirkus Reviews, starred review * Collier's characteristic watercolor-and-collage masterpieces bring joy and gravity to Perkins's inspirational poem. With a compelling rhythm that begs for recitation, the verse celebrates the power and potential of black children... A rousing celebration and call to action, this book is a great choice for every library. --School Library Journal, starred review * Perkins's poem has always made for a stirring recitation; new and old fans will find that Collier's images do full justice to it. --Publishers Weekly, starred review The punchy text and the invigorating art make this a wonderful choice for story hours or classroom discussion where children can voice their own dreams. --Booklist

Author Information

Useni Eugene Perkins is a distinguished poet, playwright, and youth worker. He is the author of Harvesting New Generations: The Positive Development of Black Youth; Home is a Dirty Street: The Social Oppression of Black Children; and Black Fairy and Other Plays. He currently lives in Chicago. Bryan Collier has illustrated more than twenty-five picture books, including the award-winning Trombone Shorty, Dave the Potter, and Knock Knock: My Father's Dream for Me, as well as City Shapes, and Fifty Cents and a Dream, and has received four Caldecott Honors and six Coretta Scott King Awards. He lives with his wife and children in Marlboro, New York.

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