Coming Home
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Young Langston Hughes was a dreamer. He dreamed about heroes like Booker T. Washington, who was black just like him. When he heard the clackety-clack of train wheels, he dreamed about the places it had been. But most of all, he dreamed about having a happy home. And so, one day, he began turning those dreams into beautiful prose. As he did, he discovered where his home really was—in the words and rhythms of his poetry that reached people all over the world. The beloved Langston Hughes comes to life in a book for poets, dreamers, children, and adults—anyone who has ever thought of what home means to them.
"Teachers looking for a good way to introduce youngsters to this prominent poet will find this book to be an excellent accompaniment to his work." —School Library Journal
"Like Hughes' poetry, the power of Cooper's story is that it confronts sadness even as it transcends it." —Booklist
"His text is as inviting as his illustrations." —The New York Times Book Review
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This insightful picture book illuminates, in both words and art, moments from the childhood of poet Langston Hughes (1902-1967). Facing difficult times with his parents because of segregation and other forms of racism, Hughes spent many of his early years in the care of his grandmother in Lawrence, Kans. As told by Cooper ( From Miss Ida's Porch ) in the first book he has written as well as illustrated, the wide-open Midwest offers Langston plenty of space to dream, but staying with poor and aging Grandma proves mostly sad and lonely. An eventual move to the home of family friends ushers in a rosy period of love and care that encourages Hughes's burgeoning writing career. Young readers may not understand how Hughes's childhood shaped his adult work, but they are likely to enjoy this story in and of itself. Warmly lit oil portraits, so atmospheric that the sounds of daily life seem to emanate from them, are almost sure to prompt questions about the era, while a muted palette of browns, golds and pinks establishes a comfortable mood. A fine tribute. Ages 7-10.
