An Earth Song

February 15, 2023
A "petite poem" by Hughes gets its first picture-book treatment. Perhaps taking inspiration from the word song in Hughes' poem, Andrews casts a red-winged blackbird as a harbinger of spring. She makes the narrator a young Black child who delights at seeing the bird through an apartment window, snow still visible on the sill. When the child ventures outside with a Black adult (likely their parent), they see several other signs of spring, some of which are directly named in Hughes' poem, while Andrews adds others to deftly expand upon the text. For example, in a spread reading "Strong as the shoots of a new plant / Strong as the bursting of new buds," the child is near a flowerbed, with unmentioned honeybees near the blooms. The red-winged blackbird appears again in a scene set in Harlem's Marcus Garvey Park that includes a depiction of sculptor Thomas J. Price's 9-foot-tall bronze figure The Distance Within. The bird flies over an open, grassy space where diverse children run and play in an idyllic scene embodying the interpretation of the poem offered in backmatter: "In the poem, Langston writes about how long he has waited and hoped for change--a sunny spring day, and perhaps a time when everyone has equal opportunity to experience freedom, joy, and peace." (This book was reviewed digitally.) Like springtime, worth the wait. (Poetry/picture book. 2-5)

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April 1, 2023

K-Gr 2-Hughes's simple but surprisingly sophisticated, short poem celebrating the arrival of a new season has been visually interpreted with charm and verve. It starts with a small Black child looking out of an apartment window. Bold colors and simple shapes on uncluttered pages effectively create childlike illustrations in what appear to be gouache. Initially the window is snowy, but time seems to pass and soon the spring song starts: "Strong as the shoots of a new plant/ Strong as the bursting of new buds/ Strong as the coming of the first child from its mother's womb." The child views the urban surroundings first from afar, then from the sidewalk as he walks with his mother in front of their building, seeing signs of new life: a pregnant woman, flowers, children playing on green grass, seeds. On the last pages of the book, delicate white dandelion seeds the child blows into the air across a blue sky become (literally) the notes of spring. After all, "It's an earth song, / A body song, / A spring song." The entire short poem and a brief endnote about the poet and his work conclude this small, handsome, and surprisingly touching illustrated poem. VERDICT Not essential but a highly recommended addition to both school and public library collections.-Maria B. Salvadore

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