Bryan, Carole Byard, Brian Pinkney, Jerry Pinkney, Jan Spivey Gilchrist, and Faith Ringgold pay tribute to Dunbar, a poet who heard the rhythms in everyday life and recorded them, e.g., ``Jump back, honey, jump back'' is what waiters called out to one another before coming out the swinging door of the kitchen into the dining room of a restaurant. Here, that phrase is part of ``A Negro Love Song,'' which Jerry Pinkney envisions as a young man and young woman at a garden gate. ``Little Brown Baby'' is a poem written for his father; ``Dawn,'' captures the quiet mystery of a new day: ``An angel, robed in spotless white,/Bent down and kissed the sleeping Night./Night woke to blush; the sprite was gone./Men saw the blush and called it Dawn.'' Readers will enjoy these poems and the variety of illustrative styles, but the words are even more meaningful if they are recited aloud. (Poetry. 5-9)

(Primary) Selected and with an introduction by Ashley Bryan and Andrea Davis Pinkney. This handsome piece of bookmaking showcases fourteen poems by late-nineteenth-century writer Paul Laurence Dunbar, including ""Little Brown Baby,"" ""Dawn,"" and ""A Negro Love Song."" Each of the six artists has illustrated two to three poems in an arrangement that urges the viewer both to linger on each illustration and to keep turning the pages. The layout is sumptuous and spacious; the variety in artistic styles lends a vitality that matches the tone of many of Dunbar's poems. The introduction establishes Dunbar's importance as an African-American poet and discusses his controversial decision to write poems in black dialect as well as in standard English. Riches all around. m.v.p. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.

This affectionate celebration of Paul Laurence Dunbar's (1872-1906) work features uniformly excellent illustrationsÄan engaging and coherent pastiche of various mediums and palettes that delight the eye. From Bryan's dazzling tempera and gouache painting of the dawn to Jerry Pinkney's enticing dust jacket illustrating a courting poem, the visual images beckon the reader to sample the energy and vitality of the poems. In a touching afterword, each illustrator discusses the value of Dunbar's poetry, both personally and in terms of African-American culture. However, despite these tributes to the ongoing influence of Dunbar's work and the editors' attempts to select verse that will translate well to contemporary children, the language of some poems may pose difficulties. Reading certain poems requires a willingness to leap across the barriers of dialect ("But be hea't goes into bus'ness fu' to he'p erlong de eah") or of the conventions of turn-of-the-century poetry ("Ah, Douglass, we have fall'n on evil days,/ Such days as thou, not even thou didst know"). Happily, one of Dunbar's gifts was his range of poetic styles; works such as the eloquent "Dawn" ("An angel, robed in spotless white,/ Bent down and kissed the sleeping Night./ Night woke to blush; the sprite was gone./ Men saw the blush and called it Dawn") will more easily introduce a new generation to Dunbar's legacy. Ages 5-up. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Gr. 4^-6, younger for reading aloud. In a handsome collection for cross-generational sharing, these selected poems by the famous turn-of-the-century writer Dunbar have been illustrated by six leading children's book illustrators: Ashley Bryan, Carole Byard, Jan Spivey Gilchrist, Brian Pinkney, Jerry Pinkney, and Faith Ringgold. At the back of the book, the illustrators talk about what the poetry has meant to them. In a fine introduction, Ashley Bryan and Andrea Davis Pinkney discuss the poet's work and influence, including the praise and criticism Dunbar received for sometimes writing in black dialect. Poems such as "Rain-Songs" and "The Sparrow" in standard English will appeal to children, but, in general the poems in dialect are livelier than the more formally poetic selections. Among the best are "The Colored Band" and "A Negro Love Song," both with Jerry Pinkney's rhythmic pencil-and-watercolor illustrations. --Hazel Rochman

Gr 3-6-A celebrity cast of illustrators enlivens 14 of Dunbar's poems. Opening with the bright colors of Ashley Bryan and the poem "Dawn," the carefully selected verses depict the full range of Dunbar's craft. There are poems in standard English, and some in dialect. The latter, placed in the middle of the book, include "A Negro Love Song," "Little Brown Baby," and others. The signature art by Carole Byard, Jan Spivey Gilchrist, Brian Pinkney, Jerry Pinkney, and Faith Ringgold also grace these pages. The pictures are bright and happy, then somber and prideful. There is joy and a sense of deep appreciation in the paintings that match the verses perfectly. The book closes with soft paintings and three quiet selections, "Good-Night," "The Sand-Man," and "Rain-Songs." From the introduction that provides readers with some background on Dunbar's life to the afterword that includes quotes from the artists about the poet's influence, this is a package that belongs in every collection serving this audience.-Angela J. Reynolds, West Slope Community Library, Portland, OR (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.