What a gift Langston Hughes gives us all
with his collection of poetry for young people: The Dream Keeper and Other
Poems. First published in 1932, the volume gathers sixty-six poems in six
roughly thematic sections; wonderful scratchboard images by Brian Pinkney grace
every page. Hughes spent many of his growing-up years in the Midwest but
traveled the world as an adult, eventually settling in Harlem. His poetry
speaks directly and powerfully of African American experience and culture and yet
is affectingly universal. A number of his short poems are recognized by people
everywhere as they capture, in the words of Lee Bennett Hopkins’s introduction,
“Hopes, dreams, aspiration, life and love…for each and every one of us.” It
would be very hard to select just one favorite poem, though the opening line of
“I, Too” conveys a sense of Hughes’s frequent theme: “I, too, sing America.”
And one stanza of his poem “Dream” reads “Hold fast to Dreams / For when dreams
go / Life is a barren field / Frozen with snow.” In her personal note at the
end of the collection, Augusta Baker remembers her friend with “Hughes was
generous with himself,” and we are lucky beneficiaries. Ages 8 up.
Related activities and interviews may be found at: TeachingBooks.net
Related activities and interviews may be found at: TeachingBooks.net
