Love to Langston

Fourteen poems offer young readers an exciting glimpse into the life of Langston Hughes, one of America’s most beloved poets. Each poem explores important themes in Hughes’s life — his lonely childhood, his love of language and travel, and his dream of writing poetry. Color illustrations throughout and extensive notes at the back of the book expand upon the poems, giving a broader picture of Hughes’s life and the time in which he lived.

From one Harlem poet to another, Love to Langston is a tribute to one of America's most talented and beloved poets, Langston Hughes. Written in the art form Hughes cherished most, this biography in verse captures glimpses of the poet's world through his voice as author-poet Tony Medina imagines it. Readers will learn how young Langston was ridiculed in first grade by his teacher who "tells one kid / not to eat licorice / or he'll turn black / like me." In "I Do Not Like My Father Much," we discover that Hughes's father severed all contact with his son when he learned that he wanted to be a poet. There's even a poem about author Alice Walker bringing the ailing poet a bag of oranges when he was on his deathbed. Devotees of Langston Hughes and those who are meeting him for the first time will enjoy this accessible biography with striking acrylic illustrations by R. Gregory Christie. Medina and Christie also collaborated on DeShawn Days. (Ages 5 to 10) --Emilie Coulter