I Remember: Poems and Pictures of Heritage

by Lee Bennett Hopkins (Editor), Various Artists (Illustrator), Janet Wong (Contribution by), Kwame Alexander (Contribution by), Margarita Engle (Contribution by)

Overview

An outstanding celebration of diversity and family: fourteen poets and sixteen illustrators of diverse backgrounds share memorable childhood experiences and reflect upon their different heritages, traditions, and beliefs.

I Remember: Poems and Pictures of Heritage brings together the work of fourteen award-winning poets and sixteen illustrators of diverse backgrounds who share aspects of their childhood experiences in honest portraits of what it was like for them growing up in the United States. Newbery Medalist Kwame Alexander takes us on a riotous ride through good times and sad spent with his extended family, which is perfectly captured by Coretta Scott King Award winner Michele Wood's vibrant overflowing and overlapping images. Pura Belpré Award winner Margarita Engle shares happy memories of learning embroidery from her grandmother, accompanied by Ecuadorean fine artist and printmaker Paula Barragán's colorful graphic representation of a granddaughter and grandmother at work. Bestselling author Nick Bruel talks about his confusion over having to define himself by a single racial label, which is brought to life by newcomer Janine Macbeth's reflective image of herself trying to figure out her own mixed ancestry.

Together these heartfelt poems and captivating illustrations shine a light on the rich diversity of people in our nation as well as the timeless human connections and universal experiences we all share. Readers of any age and background are sure to find much that spark their memories and open their eyes.

Featuring poems by Douglas Florian, Naomi Shihab Nye, Jorge Tetl Argueta, Marilyn Nelson, Nick Bruel, G. Neri, Jane Yolen, Joseph Bruchac, and Carole Boston Weatherford, and illustrations by Sean Qualls, Simone Shin, Insoo Kim, Michele Wood, Paula Barragán, Neil Waldman, Jeanne Rorex Bridges, Sawsan Chalabi, Rafael López, R. Gregory Christie, Janine Macbeth, Charlotte Riley-Webb, Julie Downing, David Fadden, Daniel Minter, and Juliet Menéndez.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781620143117
Publisher:	Lee & Low Books
Publication date:	10/22/2019
Pages:	56
Sales rank:	1,060,373
Product dimensions:	7.30(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Lee Bennett Hopkins, acclaimed poet and writer, has created numerous award-winning poetry anthologies for young readers. He is the recipient of the 2009 NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children, which honors his body of work. Hopkins’s books have won many accolades, and in early 2015, a third award was established in his name: the Lee Bennett Hopkins SCBWI Poetry Award, to “recognize and encourage the publication of an excellent book of poetry or anthology for children and/or young adults.” He lives in Cape Coral, Florida.

ILLUSTRATORS: Sean Qualls, Simone Shin, Insoo Kim, Michele Wood, Paula Barragán, Neil Waldman, Jeanne Rorex Bridges, Sawsan Chalabi, Rafael López, R. Gregory Christie, Janine Macbeth, Charlotte Riley-Webb, Julie Downing, David Fadden, Daniel Minter, Juliet Menéndez

poet contributor to I REMEMBER

Editorial Reviews

★ 08/19/2019

An inclusive collection of poets and artists pays homage to cultural and familial inheritance through a series of illustrated memories. Compiled by Hopkins, readers are treated to an intimate look into the childhoods of poets such as Naomi Shihab Nye and Kwame Alexander. Every work opens with a personal dictum from both poet and artist (“Painting is the voice that helps me share,” says Rafael López). And the following poems evoke an immediacy that connects readers with another’s memory—of travel, food, ritual, story—while drawing out readers’ own fond remembering (“When Abuelita visits/ time seems to stop,” writes Margarita Engle). The corresponding artwork demonstrates a wonderful range of visual language and technique; there is truly something for everyone in these pages. The index includes mini biographies and then-and-now photographs of the book’s contributors. A rich celebration of the cultures and moments that shape people. Ages 8–up. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

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From the Publisher

★ 10/01/2019

Gr 3–8—This vibrant quilt of poetry and art features the works of 30 unique poets and artists from a wide array of cultural backgrounds. Poems recount the writers' memories of their family traditions and how their experiences growing up in America as second-generation children often shaped their views of their heritage and cultural identity. Contributors such as Kwame Alexander, Jorge Tetl Argueta, Nick Bruel, and Janet S. Wong offer a varied approach to poetic form, allowing readers to experience rhythm, meter, and verse. Illustrations using all types of media sing through the pages. Each poet's work is preceded by a statement addressing what poetry means to them and how its format can tap into a person's heart and soul. VERDICT Pairing the works of some of today's most important voices in children's poetry with illustrations by artists of equal talent makes this is a must-have for all elementary and middle grade collections.—Liz Allen, Middle Country Public Library, Centereach, NY

School Library Journal

★ 2019-07-28
Curated by poet Hopkins, a collection of poems and illustrations sourced from a diverse pool of creators.

Each double-page spread or multipage sequence captures a childhood memory, an artist paired with a poet welcoming readers into an expansive space of youth and memory. Storyteller G. Neri describes his "Creole, Filipino, and Mexican" heritage as a "great example of globalization," and other contributors celebrate their mixed cultural heritages: Juliet Menendez (Guatemalan/Irish), Janet S. Wong (Korean/Chinese), Janine Macbeth (Asian/black/white/Native), and Nick Bruel (Chinese/Belgian). Insoo Kim doubles down as a poet and illustrator in "Speak Up," in which a young boy challenged to "say something Korean" confronts his dual identity as a U.S.-born Korean American. Poets and artists are generally paired loosely by identity, with Naomi Shihab Nye's Palestinian heritage and Sawsan Chalabi's Lebanese background contributing to their collaboration, for instance, and Abenaki author Joseph Bruchac's poem "Rez Road" juxtaposed with Mohawk artist David Kanietakeron Fatdden's symbolic painting. Brief statements by each creator accompany their contributions, and select vocabulary is defined discreetly in tiny type at the ends of poems. The compilation ends with a wonderful section that includes child and adult photos and bios of all of the book's contributors, a nice touch that inspires, as it puts names to faces for youth to see that people of all cultures are accomplished artists.

A perfect addition to the bookshelves of culture, poetry, and art. (Picture book/poetry. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews