The Negro Speaks of Rivers

A celebration of Pullman porters is the focus of this new picture-book edition of Langston Hughes’ classic poem. The collage spreads, blending oil paintings and cut paper, begin with an image of a speeding train before moving on to large portraits of African American porters serving white passengers aboard a luxury train. When the passengers leave, the porters gather left-behind items — newspapers, blues and jazz albums — and toss them from the train. Carried by the wind, the words and music fall into the hands of African Americans across the country. Winner of the 2013 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award. [From Booklist]

A single poem from Langston Hughes’ collection, The Dream Keeper and Other Poems (Knopf; 0679883479) has been reinterpreted in stunning, stylized illustrations that correspond to lines from the poem. The poem is presented in its entirety at the end along with a brief overview of Hughes’ life and inspiration for the poem.

The great American poet Langston Hughes chose the poems in this classic collection, originally published for young people in 1932.