  | Lullaby (for a Black mother) Author: Hughes, Langston | |
| Price: $6.50 | ||
Summary:
A beloved poem in picture-book form for the first time. A celebration of poetry and the love between mother and baby.
| Illustrator: | Qualls, Sean |
Common Core Standards
Grade K → Reading → RL Literature → K.RL Key Ideas & Details
Grade K → Reading → RL Literature → K.RL Craft & Structure
Grade K → Reading → RL Literature → K.RL Integration of Knowledge & Ideas
Grade 1 → Reading → RL Reading Literature → 1.RL Key Ideas & Details
Grade 1 → Reading → RL Reading Literature → 1.RL Range of Reading & Level of Text Complexity
Grade 1 → Reading → RL Reading Literature → 1.RL Integration of Knowledge & Ideas
Grade 2 → Reading → RL Reading Literature → 2.RL Key Ideas & Details
Grade 2 → Reading → RL Reading Literature → 2.RL Range of Reading & Level of Text Complexity
Grade 2 → Reading → CCR College & Career Readiness Anchor Standards fo
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews (04/01/13)
School Library Journal (02/01/13)
Booklist (02/01/13)
The Hornbook (00/05/13)
Full Text Reviews:
Booklist - 02/01/2013 Hughes’ classic lullaby gets a loving lift with Quall's graceful artwork in this picture book that shows a beautiful baby in its loving mother’s embrace, dancing in the night sky among the stars, floating on a chair in the clouds over the Harlem city lights, and celebrating the dark. At the heart of the words and pictures is the parent-baby bond, but, asthe moving afterword points out, there are longing and loneliness, too, echoed in the silhouetted profiles of mother and child “kissing the night” from opposite ends of the double-page spread. One particularly stirring spread shows a close-up of the mother bouncing her baby above the crib with the world outside the window (“A necklace of stars / winding the night”). The full poem is printed at the back, along with a 1902 photo of an infant Hughes in his mother’s arms and a biographical note about the poet. The physical intimacy of mother and child “cuddleclose” is timeless. - Copyright 2013 Booklist.
School Library Journal - 02/01/2013 PreS—Presented for the first time as a full-length picture book, Hughes's lyrical poem comes to life through Qualls's lush collage-style illustration. The poem, originally part of The Dream Keeper and Other Poems (Knopf, 1932), celebrates the love between a mother and her child and the quiet rituals of putting a baby to bed. The art, in muted tones of purple and blue, provides a dreamlike backdrop to the touching words. At the end of the book, the lullaby is printed on one page so that readers can see it in its original format, thereby changing the reading experience slightly. A "Note About the Poet" gives context for the poem and a brief insight into Hughes's life and inspirations (including a discussion of how this particular poem might have been born of loneliness, thereby giving it a more melancholy and poignant subtext). A wonderful celebration of both love and poetry.—Rita Meade, Brooklyn Public Library, NY - Copyright 2013 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.
