Day: April 24, 2024

Review: The Dream Keeper

“Open wide your arms to life, / Whirl in the wind of pain and strife, / Face the wall with the dark closed gate, / Beat with bare, brown fists – / And wait.” page 29 (excerpt from poem “Song”)

The Dream Keeper and Other Poems by Langston Hughes, illustrated by Brian Pinkney.
Originally published in 1932 by Alfred A. Knopf, my edition Scholastic, New York, 1994.
Poetry collection, 84 pages.
Lexile:  1150L .
AR Level:  Not leveled.

Langston Hughes’ own selection and arrangement of his poems for young readers.

The Dream Keeper and Other Poems by Langston Hughes, illustrated by Brian Pinkney.

It’s books like this one that especially point out the lie that early literary education is not able to be diverse. Although my particular version was published in the early 90s, this book has been around since 1932!

The book opens with an introductory essay by Lee Bennett Hopkins, which succinctly summarizes the key points of Hughes’ life. It is skippable, but does add valuable context for those who choose to read it.

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