Book Descriptions
for The Palm of My Heart, The by Davida Adedjouma and R. Gregory Christie
From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
African-American children celebrate black creativity, culture, beauty and so much more in profound and moving original poems created during a writing workshop led by Davida Adedjouma. A brilliant and beautiful book design is distinguished in part by typeface which displays each child's poem so that it can be read in two ways: in it's entirety, or by focusing on key words that are emphasized in a contrasting boldface font: the poem within the poem. Gregorie Christie's acrylic paintings which illustrate the poems are singular, emotionally stirring works of art that resonate deeply. An introduction by Lucille Clifton and brief profiles of each child poet that emphasize interests with which young readers will relate round out this important, unparalleled volume. Honor Book, 1996 CCBC Coretta Scott King Award Discussion: Illustrator (Ages 7-12)
CCBC Choices 1996. © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 1996. Used with permission.
From the Publisher
Out of the mouths of babes comes some of the most compelling poetic lines celebrating the beauty of African-American culture. Twenty inner-city children, ages 6 to 12, wrote these moving and powerful poems during a writing workshop taught by Davida Adedjouma and sponsored by the Minneapolis Inner City Youth League and the African-American Academy for Accelerated Learning.
Expressive gouache illustrations alive with light, color, and motion accompany the poetry. Together. they present an honest, wise, and dazzling collection that resounds with youth's hopeful outlook and winning exuberance.
Publisher description retrieved from Google Books.