Gr 4-6 "You can read many things in her face," says Joseph Bruchac in describing Aunt Molly Sky, a venerable Native American storyteller. Aunt Molly is one of 16 people, varied in age and ethnicity, whose everyday lives are reflected in this picture-book anthology. Faces figure prominently in some poems as Hopkins and Soentpiet celebrate America's diversity. "Amazing Face" belongs to a chortling Asian baby who is addressed by a blond mother, and the concluding poem, Langston Hughes's "My People," is paired with a multiracial crowd waving flags in a city fireworks scene. Some of the voices and warm watercolor portraits are necessarily specificChinatown's child who lives "above Good Fortune/where they catch crabs fresh" or "Latina, "abuela", she is everyone/of us come from otherwhere." Some experiencesdreams, loneliness, the heroism of a returning soldier or a smoke-smudged firefighterare universal. Varied in shape, each poem is set on an ivory half-page next to a broad scenesometimes a single child, other times a small group or an energetic crowd. This appealing package of poetry and ideas will be enjoyed by children, parents, and teachers. There are many bits to savor, and the underlying theme is so well executed that it could easily stimulate interest in finding more people in poems."Margaret Bush, Simmons College, Boston" Copyright 2010 Media Source Inc.
A collection of brief poems describe the many faces of multicultural America: an African American boy dreaming, a bilingual Latina girl, a lonely Caucasian boy, an Asian boy living in Chinatown, a Native American elder spinning stories. Poets include Rebecca Kai Dotlich, Janet S. Wong, Langston Hughes, Pat Mora, and Jane Yolen. This celebration of diversity is illustrated with beautifully detailed realistic paintings.
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