Through poetry Joyce Carol Thomas beautifully describes different black children. She compares them to nature, especially berries. The African-Native-American is a "red raspberry stirred into blackberries." There is a Cranberry Red child with red skin and hair. There is even a snowberry child. While she is teased that shes not "really black" she feels that deep down there is one drop of blood in her that makes her black. These beautiful poems reveal a rich language and an even richer heritage.
Bibliographic Citation
Thomas, J. (2008). The blacker the berry. New York, HarperCollins.
Personal Impressions
While this is a great book of poetry I feel that many children will have a difficult time understanding the meaning behind many of these poems.
Reviews
Hazel Rochman (Booklist, May 15, 2008 (Vol. 104, No. 18))
Black comes in all shades from dark to light, and each is rich and beautiful in this collection of simple, joyful poems and glowing portraits that show African American diversity and connections. In the title poem, a smiling girl says, “Because I am dark, the moon and stars shine brighter.” Other pages have fun with terms, such as skin deep and night shade. A grandma turns “Coffee will make you black” from a warning into something great. A boy is proud to be raspberry black as he reads his great-great-grandmother’s journal about her love for her Seminole Indian husband. A girl says she is “cranberry red” from her father’s Irish ancestry. In the final, joyful double-page spread, the kids celebrate their individual identities and laugh together. Many families will want to talk about this and their own family roots: “We count who we are / And add to all who came before us.” Preschool-Grade 2
Hazel Rochman (Booklist, May 15, 2008 (Vol. 104, No. 18))
Black comes in all shades from dark to light, and each is rich and beautiful in this collection of simple, joyful poems and glowing portraits that show African American diversity and connections. In the title poem, a smiling girl says, “Because I am dark, the moon and stars shine brighter.” Other pages have fun with terms, such as skin deep and night shade. A grandma turns “Coffee will make you black” from a warning into something great. A boy is proud to be raspberry black as he reads his great-great-grandmother’s journal about her love for her Seminole Indian husband. A girl says she is “cranberry red” from her father’s Irish ancestry. In the final, joyful double-page spread, the kids celebrate their individual identities and laugh together. Many families will want to talk about this and their own family roots: “We count who we are / And add to all who came before us.” Preschool-Grade 2
Meagan Albright (Children's Literature)
This book is rich--rich in imagery and metaphors, rich in languid and lyrical text, rich in illustrations imbued with purple, black, brown and a myriad of other colors. The images, the carefully selected words, the symmetry and symbolism come together to create a beautiful and vivid collection of poems describing the many shades of black. This book, quiet yet intense, resonates with readers. Each poem, built around the many hues and types of berries, is worthy of standing on its own. Still, the full strength of the book comes from reading it in its entirety, with each poem providing a base for the next by adding depth and understanding to the text. This book is highly recommended for purchase for public libraries and school media centers. Teachers and librarians are sure to use it during February for Black History Month, but a book this good should be celebrated throughout the year. 2008, HarperCollins Publishers, $16.99. Ages 4 to 8.
This book is rich--rich in imagery and metaphors, rich in languid and lyrical text, rich in illustrations imbued with purple, black, brown and a myriad of other colors. The images, the carefully selected words, the symmetry and symbolism come together to create a beautiful and vivid collection of poems describing the many shades of black. This book, quiet yet intense, resonates with readers. Each poem, built around the many hues and types of berries, is worthy of standing on its own. Still, the full strength of the book comes from reading it in its entirety, with each poem providing a base for the next by adding depth and understanding to the text. This book is highly recommended for purchase for public libraries and school media centers. Teachers and librarians are sure to use it during February for Black History Month, but a book this good should be celebrated throughout the year. 2008, HarperCollins Publishers, $16.99. Ages 4 to 8.
CCBC (Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices, 2009)
Playful, loving, and poignant poems honor the many shades of black found in a palette of skin tones. Some verses are confident and celebratory (“I am biscuit brown / brown as a biscuit / All warm and waiting / for berries / that I carry / to the kitchen and can”) while others are deep and reflective (“I look white / I am as light / as snowberries in fall / ‘I walk that walk / I talk that talk’ / Yet / Still some say / ‘You’re not really Black!’ ”). Realistic illustrations, rich with color and emotion, portray a range of children and families in this invaluable addition to school and public libraries. CCBC Category: Poetry. 2008, Joanna Cotler Books / Amistad / HarperCollins, 32 pages, $16.99. Ages 4-8.
Playful, loving, and poignant poems honor the many shades of black found in a palette of skin tones. Some verses are confident and celebratory (“I am biscuit brown / brown as a biscuit / All warm and waiting / for berries / that I carry / to the kitchen and can”) while others are deep and reflective (“I look white / I am as light / as snowberries in fall / ‘I walk that walk / I talk that talk’ / Yet / Still some say / ‘You’re not really Black!’ ”). Realistic illustrations, rich with color and emotion, portray a range of children and families in this invaluable addition to school and public libraries. CCBC Category: Poetry. 2008, Joanna Cotler Books / Amistad / HarperCollins, 32 pages, $16.99. Ages 4-8.
Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, June 15, 2008 (Vol. 76, No. 12))
What shade is human?" Thomas's evocative, colorful poetry seeks to answer that question with this celebration of the diversity of African-American children across the spectrum. From "Raspberry Black" to "Golden Goodness," Cooper's soft and realistic illustrations almost leap from the page, incorporating natural images from the text in their depiction of a gallery of beautiful, self-confident children. Difficult intraracial social issues related to skin color are handled with truth and respect. For instance, in the poem "Snowberries," a fair-skinned child speaks back to those who would question her identity: "The words cut deep down / Beyond the bone / Beneath my snowy skin / Deep down where no one can see / I bleed the ‘one drop of blood' / That makes Black me." On the page opposite, an auburn-haired girl smiles at the reader, eyes twinkling. An essential picture book that helps young children understand and appreciate differences in skin color. As the epigraph states so truthfully, "Colors, without black, / couldn't sparkle quite so bright." 2008, Joanna Cotler/HarperCollins, 32p, $16.99. Category: Picture book/poetry. Ages 5 to 10. Starred Review. © 2008 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.
What shade is human?" Thomas's evocative, colorful poetry seeks to answer that question with this celebration of the diversity of African-American children across the spectrum. From "Raspberry Black" to "Golden Goodness," Cooper's soft and realistic illustrations almost leap from the page, incorporating natural images from the text in their depiction of a gallery of beautiful, self-confident children. Difficult intraracial social issues related to skin color are handled with truth and respect. For instance, in the poem "Snowberries," a fair-skinned child speaks back to those who would question her identity: "The words cut deep down / Beyond the bone / Beneath my snowy skin / Deep down where no one can see / I bleed the ‘one drop of blood' / That makes Black me." On the page opposite, an auburn-haired girl smiles at the reader, eyes twinkling. An essential picture book that helps young children understand and appreciate differences in skin color. As the epigraph states so truthfully, "Colors, without black, / couldn't sparkle quite so bright." 2008, Joanna Cotler/HarperCollins, 32p, $16.99. Category: Picture book/poetry. Ages 5 to 10. Starred Review. © 2008 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.
Jessica Robinson (Kutztown University Book Review, Spring 2009)
This is a book full of poems to honor African-American heritage. The simple poems encourage pride in one’s ethnicity and race. The book is comprised of thirteen poems that include metaphors that use berries to relate to race. Poems are written in first person with each narrator being a different African-American child. The poems offered in this book, while simple, contain big messages concerning race and ethnicity. Illustrations are excellent; each poem has an accompanying colorful picture. I could see this book being of use in a classroom during Black History Month. In general, The Blackerthe Berry is highly recommended for its promotion of diversity. Category: Poetry. 2008, Amistad, $16.99. Ages 5 to 12.
This is a book full of poems to honor African-American heritage. The simple poems encourage pride in one’s ethnicity and race. The book is comprised of thirteen poems that include metaphors that use berries to relate to race. Poems are written in first person with each narrator being a different African-American child. The poems offered in this book, while simple, contain big messages concerning race and ethnicity. Illustrations are excellent; each poem has an accompanying colorful picture. I could see this book being of use in a classroom during Black History Month. In general, The Blackerthe Berry is highly recommended for its promotion of diversity. Category: Poetry. 2008, Amistad, $16.99. Ages 5 to 12.
Deborah Stevenson (The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, July 2008 (Vol. 61, No. 11))
Well-known poet Thomas offers a dozen free-verse poems in the voices of African-American children, each describing and exulting in their own individual and beautiful skin color. The author takes theberry metaphor of the title and runs it through the poems, with one boy referring to himself as “raspberry-black (“I am African-Native-American”), a girl realizing her arms are “as bronze and golden” as the huckleberry bush, and another “as light as snowberries in fall,” while other kids are “biscuit brown” and “midnight and berries” dark. The poems are bolsteringly inclusive, gaining particular energy when they touch on family exchanges or stories (Grandma’s anecdote makes “Coffee Will Make You Black” a standout entry). Often, though, the poems are merely prettily descriptive and their eloquence flattened by the hard-pushed positivity; the berry metaphor also becomes somewhat strained with repetition. The berries can become a tad intrusive in the art as well, but Cooper’s misty pastels otherwise offer some evocative portraiture of bright-eyed youngsters, with hearty realism in gap-toothed smiles and individual faces that helps balance out the idealism of the settings. This is a topic not often overtly treated in literature for young people, and this collection could make a partner to other books about African-American acceptance such as Sandra Pinkney’s Shades of Black(BCCB 1/01) or hooks’ Happy to Be Nappy (BCCB 1/00) Review Code: Ad -- Additional book of acceptable quality for collections needing more material in the area. (c) Copyright 2006, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2008, Cotler/Amistad/HarperCollins, 32p.; Reviewed from galleys, $17.89 and $16.99. Ages 5-8 yrs.
Well-known poet Thomas offers a dozen free-verse poems in the voices of African-American children, each describing and exulting in their own individual and beautiful skin color. The author takes theberry metaphor of the title and runs it through the poems, with one boy referring to himself as “raspberry-black (“I am African-Native-American”), a girl realizing her arms are “as bronze and golden” as the huckleberry bush, and another “as light as snowberries in fall,” while other kids are “biscuit brown” and “midnight and berries” dark. The poems are bolsteringly inclusive, gaining particular energy when they touch on family exchanges or stories (Grandma’s anecdote makes “Coffee Will Make You Black” a standout entry). Often, though, the poems are merely prettily descriptive and their eloquence flattened by the hard-pushed positivity; the berry metaphor also becomes somewhat strained with repetition. The berries can become a tad intrusive in the art as well, but Cooper’s misty pastels otherwise offer some evocative portraiture of bright-eyed youngsters, with hearty realism in gap-toothed smiles and individual faces that helps balance out the idealism of the settings. This is a topic not often overtly treated in literature for young people, and this collection could make a partner to other books about African-American acceptance such as Sandra Pinkney’s Shades of Black(BCCB 1/01) or hooks’ Happy to Be Nappy (BCCB 1/00) Review Code: Ad -- Additional book of acceptable quality for collections needing more material in the area. (c) Copyright 2006, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2008, Cotler/Amistad/HarperCollins, 32p.; Reviewed from galleys, $17.89 and $16.99. Ages 5-8 yrs.
Maria Medina (The Lorgnette - Heart of Texas Reviews (Vol. 21, No. 3))
Joyce Carol Thomas writes 13 poems expressing and describing the diversity in skin tones of African-American children illustrated in this picture book. The book’s first page starts with “Colors, without black, couldn’t sparkle quite so bright,” which sets the tone for the rest of the poetry collection. The pride shows in each one of the poems of how unique and wonderful each shade is, according to Thomas. The illustrations capture the author’s words beautifully. This book is an excellent addition to any classroom or library collection for discussion about heritage and culture. Nonfiction. Grades K-3. 2008, Amistad/Joanna Cotler Books, Unpaged., $16.99. Ages 5 to 9.
Joyce Carol Thomas writes 13 poems expressing and describing the diversity in skin tones of African-American children illustrated in this picture book. The book’s first page starts with “Colors, without black, couldn’t sparkle quite so bright,” which sets the tone for the rest of the poetry collection. The pride shows in each one of the poems of how unique and wonderful each shade is, according to Thomas. The illustrations capture the author’s words beautifully. This book is an excellent addition to any classroom or library collection for discussion about heritage and culture. Nonfiction. Grades K-3. 2008, Amistad/Joanna Cotler Books, Unpaged., $16.99. Ages 5 to 9.
Elementary Library Uses
This book would find a home in an upper elementary or middle school library. It would provide a great mentor text for teaching metaphors and similes. It would also be an inspirational text for a child seeking acceptance because of skin color.
This book would find a home in an upper elementary or middle school library. It would provide a great mentor text for teaching metaphors and similes. It would also be an inspirational text for a child seeking acceptance because of skin color.
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