Richard Wright grew up in Mississippi. “He was a little boy who knew the sound of trees rustling in the wind, the journey of a solitary ant, and the brown of a muddy dirt road,” writes Nina Crews in a brief introduction to these lovely haiku. African American Wright, Crews continues, was a child at a time when “people said that brown little boys like him didn’t grow up to be famous writers.” Of course, Wright did, in fact, grow up to be exactly that. The 12 poems here, which Wright wrote later in his career, all reflect a sense of connection to nature. They’re paired with photographs taken by Crews showing diverse brown-skinned boys in this delightful and affirming collection that concludes with more about haiku (of which Wright wrote more than 4,000) and Richard Wright. (Ages 5–10)

A remarkable celebration of Richard Wright, poetry, and contemporary black boys at play.
From walking a dog to watching a sunset to finding a beetle, Richard Wright's haiku puts everyday moments into focus. Now, more than fifty years after they were written, these poems continue to reflect our everyday experiences. Paired with the photo-collage artwork of Nina Crews, Seeing into Tomorrow celebrates the lives of contemporary African American boys and offers an accessible introduction to one of the most important African American writers of the twentieth century.