Module 5 : The Blacker the Berry

http://www.ala.org/emiert/files/cskbookawards/img/2009/the_blacker_the_berry-honor.jpg

SUMMARY

This is a poetry book about African Americans and how their skin color makes them beautiful no matter what. The illustrations are happy and melodic with the verses of the poems. This books is about embracing individuality, and that we are people, and we are more than just our skin color. The children's skin is compared to different foods and drinks and beautifully described and enveloped in many senses.

APA REFERENCE
Thomas, J., & Cooper, F. (2008). The blacker the berry: Poems. New York: HarperCollins.

IMPRESSIONS

I am generally not drawn to poems, but this books was well-written and beautifully illustrated. I enjoyed reading this book and will use it in library lessons in the future. I appreciated the comparison of skin tone to different foods. The author beautifully described the tones, and it was a very enjoyable book.

PROFESSIONAL REVIEW
[Review of the book The Blacker the Berry by Joyce Carol Thomas]. Kirkus review retrieved on 09/30/14 from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/joyce-carol-thomas/the-blacker-the-berry/.

“What shade is human?” Thomas’s evocative, colorful poetry seeks to answer that question with this celebration of the diversity of African-American children across the spectrum. From “Raspberry Black” to “Golden Goodness,” Cooper’s soft and realistic illustrations almost leap from the page, incorporating natural images from the text in their depiction of a gallery of beautiful, self-confident children. Difficult intraracial social issues related to skin color are handled with truth and respect. For instance, in the poem “Snowberries,” a fair-skinned child speaks back to those who would question her identity: “The words cut deep down / Beyond the bone / Beneath my snowy skin / Deep down where no one can see / I bleed the ‘one drop of blood’ / That makes Black me.” On the page opposite, an auburn-haired girl smiles at the reader, eyes twinkling. An essential picture book that helps young children understand and appreciate differences in skin color. As the epigraph states so truthfully, “Colors, without black, / couldn’t sparkle quite so bright.” (Picture book/poetry. 5-10)

LIBRARY USES

This book would be a great read during Black History Month or at any time throughout the school year to teach about acceptance, and that we are all the same and beautiful even though our skin tones my be different.