Soul Looks Back in Wonder by Maya Angelou

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Soul Looks Back in Wonder was written by Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou, Walter Dean Myers, Haki R. Madhubuti, Lucille Clifton and 8 others authors. Tom Feelings waa the illustrator of this book. He was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. He attended the School of the Visual Arts, and later lived in Ghana and Guyana. He was a cartoonist, children’s book illustrator, author, teacher, and activist. Through his works, he framed the African-American experiences. [1]

Summary

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The selections are uniformly uplifting, with affirming messages about the heritage, strength, and dreams of African Americans.--Publishers Weekly. In this compelling collection of words and pictures, the voices of thirteen major poets, including Maya Angelou, Langston Hughes, and Walter Dean Myers, rise in response to the dazzling vistas and emotionally vivid portraits of the award-winning artist. [2]

Pros

Agnė, a verified reader, mentioned that Soul Looks Back in Wonder book was an illustrated collection of poems that celebrate the African-American spirit and are dedicated to "our precious young African sisters and brothers, who are our today and our tomorrow." The poems by thirteen major poets, such as Maya Angelou, Langston Hughes, and Walter Dean Myers, were written to accompany Tom Feelings' stunning collage illustrations.

The book deserves five stars because it was beautifully illustrated and emphasizes the beauty of brown skin tones, especially dark brown skin, giving it warmth and love. The present-day is a dangerous place for children of African descent, children of the sun. They were standing between childhood and adulthood, midway between the past and the future, pulled away from their center. They were removed from the benefits of ancient initiation rites, rites of passage designed to ease young people into manhood and womanhood, into the responsibilities and protections of communal life. Too many teenagers are growing up in an environment where indifference and hostility are bullets aimed straight at the core of their spirit. It contained a collection of Tom Feelings art and he had poetry to go along with every piece of art. Not only did he had poetry to go with the paintings, he also had well-renowned writers such as Maya Angelou and Langston Hughes lends their talents to go with his beautiful art. Langston Hughes wrote a poem specifically for this book because every other used something that was already published. Every piece of art that Tom Feelings has drawn was done very beautifully and they all seem to go with the flow of the poems. This was the reason why this book won a Coretta Scott King Award because there was just so much beautiful art and poetry done so well and all done by African Americans. It such a good book because of the beautiful art, well-written poetry, and both seem to just inspire something about oneself. This may be a book aimed toward young children, but it could speak to all audiences. [3]

References