First published in 1956, Gwendolyn Brooks’ Bronzeville Boys and Girls offers poems at once specific to urban experience and universal in their treatment of themes that reach across the landscape of childhood. Each poem’s title includes the name of a child or children who are its subject: Mexie and Bridie have a tea party beneath the clouds; Narcissa sits as still as a princess while the girls around her play; Charles lies sick in bed, watching out the window; Rudolph is tired of feeling crowded and is ready to leave city life behind. Thirty-four poems highlight the experiences of thirty-four black children but speak to the experiences to which all children can relate. This newly illustrated edition is buoyed by Faith Ringgold’s stylized, spirited illustrations in her distinctive style. (Ages 5–9)