Published by Millbrook Press

Summary:  Twelve haiku poems by Richard Wright are illustrated with collage photographs of African American boys in nature.  Wright’s biography is divided into two parts: an introductory page at the beginning of the book and a more detailed three-page one at the end that concludes with an invitation to the reader to write their own haikus.  The poems are deceptively simple: easy for kids to understand (“So insistently/A crow caws in a spring field/That I want to look”), yet small masterpieces of word artistry. Includes a list for further reading.  32 pages; grades K-5.

Pros:  A perfect introduction to both Richard Wright and the art of haiku, with beautiful photographic collages by Nina Crews (whom I just learned is the daughter of Caldecott illustrators Donald Crews and Ann Jonas), and an age-appropriate introduction to Wright’s life.

Cons:  No photo of Richard Wright.

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