Brooks' short poems about neighborhood children in Bronzeville capture everyday life and quiet moments, sometimes in first person and sometimes in third. Faith Ringgold's illustrations on bright backgrounds show the characters and their neighborhood.

See also: Exquisite by Suzanne Slade and Cozbi Cabrera ( )

Gwendolyn Brooks is probably best known for her gritty, real-to-life series of Bronzeville poems. They were tough, personal, and relatable, bringing American readers face to face with harsh inner city realities. These are not those poems. These celebrate the "joy, beauty, imagination, and freedom of childhood." Yet this collection is still very relatable, very real, and of course, very beautiful.
The poems are simple and illustrated in a simple way as well--- in short, very accessible for young readers just getting their first taste of poetry. They have a young voice --- such as in "Val" about a girl who feels unwelcome at a party for grownups--- and it's one that will easily draw young readers in.
I think it would be of excellent use in an elementary school English or arts class. There simply aren't enough books like this. ( )

Classic poetic vignettes of children growing up in an urban neighborhood in the 50's. The catch is, these are children of color, and yet they aren't suffering much racial injustice. In other words, it's a refreshing change of pace, of a perspective of happiness and hope. ( )

Bronzeville is a book of poems. Each poem talks about the life of an African American child. Every poem in the book is about something any child would do, like play outside, playing with friends, and being around family. I think this book would be great if your introducing poetry. ( )

This poetry book tells a story about a neighborhood of children and situations. They all have a story that could be quickly told in a poem. It would be a fun book for introducing poetry. The poetry is fun and also involves real situations. ( )