(2) K-3 Illustrated by Erin K. Robinson. In this picture-book celebration of libraries and reading, poet Giovanni writes about the Carnegie Library, which she regularly visited as a child. Robinson's digital art resembles vibrant collages and features a young Black girl with jaunty pigtails tied with twirly yellow ribbons. Her puffy aqua dress with a Peter Pan collar helps set the time period in the 1950s. The little girl explains why she loves her library: it's "a place to be free / to be in space / to be a cook / to be a crook / to be in love / to be unhappy." She thinks about being "quick and smart" but also "contained and cautious"; she imagines herself playing jazz and sailing. Returning home with her stack of books, the girl carries out her chores before going back to reading, wrapped up in a brightly colored patchwork quilt, the patches echoing the covers of the volumes she's reading--so that in her daily life she is constantly surrounded by love and vibrancy. In a touching author's note Giovanni talks about her own childhood experience at the "colored" library, where a special librarian would get her poetry books from the main library.

Reviewer: Susan Dove Lempke | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2022

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Ashley Bryan. Bryan's vibrant, colorful, and moving illustrations accompany a selection of Giovanni's poems (new and previously published). Topics range widely (dance, self-reflection, nature, friendship); illustrations affirm the beauty and worth of black and brown children. Several poems recall slavery and the civil rights movement, providing a historical source of strength and courage. It's a combination of poetry and art that will bring readers back again and again.

Reviewer: Michelle H. Martin | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2018

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Chris Raschka. Giovanni extends Aesop's fable by exploring what might happen if Grasshopper decided to sue the ants. The stakes? "R-E-S-P-E-C-T." Some complex points of law in addition to the merits of art for art's sake are discussed, which won't be of great interest to kids. Raschka's impressionistic illustrations add lively humor to the comparatively weighty text.

Reviewer: Henrietta M. Smith

(4) 4-6 Giovanni begins by describing "The Journey" (Africans being forcibly taken to America) and ends with "Spirituals Today and Tomorrow." Most chapters give some history, then present a spiritual with accompanying analysis of the words. The author's personal passion for spirituals comes through, but her nonlinear approach and constantly shifting focus (history, biographical sketches, personal reflections) make the text scattered. Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Henrietta M. Smith