award-winning picture book and middle-grade author
Art is made of questions and craft.
What she doesn’t know shapes her work
along with the hope that someone believes
in her even if that girl can’t see
what’s under her hands.
The verse novel Stone Mirrors: The Sculpture and Silence of Edmonia Lewis
So much truth and beauty here.
Try to understand the woes and wonders of the world — write a poem.
— Kwame Alexander
My grandmother’s poetry collection became mine when she passed away. Here are some of her Edna St. Vincent Millays.
In Conversation: Kwame Alexander and Nikki Grimes on the Power of Poetry :: Publisher’s Weekly Children’s Bookshelf
5 Questions for the Verse Novelist Featuring Caroline Starr Rose :: Laura Shovan
National Poetry Month :: Reading Rockets
Poetry Mosaic :: Bookology Children’s Literature
Tech Tidbits for National Poetry Month :: School Library Journal
Why Poetry by Susan Knell :: Nerdy Book Club
** Pre-order giveaways for Jasper and the Riddle of Riley’s Mine! Now through February 6. Click through to learn more. **
This is an excellent resource for music and art teachers as well as for social studies and U.S. history lessons.
— School Library Journal, starred review
genre: non-fiction
age range: 8-11 years
Cynthia Grady’s website
teacher’s guide
Please tell us about your book.
LIKE A BIRD: THE ART OF THE AMERICAN SLAVE SONG grew out of my first book with Michele Wood — I LAY MY STITCHES DOWN: POEMS OF AMERICAN SLAVERY. That book, STITCHES, has a brief narrative description below each poem, giving the poem some literary, historical, or musical context – each poem has a line from or a reference to– an African American spiritual within it.
So, a year after STITCHES came out, Michele asked if I’d be interested in writing the text for a series of illustrations she wanted to do – illustrations of spirituals. After some back and forth, we agreed on what would work for both of us, so I spent about 2 years researching the songs and writing up a book proposal.
Could you share with readers how you conducted your research or share a few interesting tidbits you learned while researching?
I began with the middle school music teachers I knew where I was the librarian, which led me to music historians and the music collections at several libraries including the University of Maryland and University of North Carolina. UNC has a digital collection called Documenting the South. Within that collection are lots of primary sources and digitized books on so many aspects of southern history – I was able to download and read the first Harriet Tubman biography ever written– in 1886 by Sarah H. Bradford– called Harriet: The Moses of Her People. Our title, LIKE A BIRD, comes from a line in that biography.
As a former librarian, I love to do research, but the research for this book was much more complicated than it was for STITCHES. I have never studied music formally, so I had a lot to learn along the way – about music in general and then slave music. And I also needed to research copyright law and how it works with notated music in the public domain.
What were some special challenges associated with writing a book that was generated by the illustrator, and doing the writing after the illustrations were complete?
Because I did not generate the idea for this book, it felt a little like a homework assignment at first, rather than a creative endeavor. As we went along, the main idea changed, from writing about the meanings of the slave songs, to focusing on the illustrations, and Michele Wood’s interpretations of the songs. Once that happened, and we began working with the folks at Lerner, it all became a very enjoyable, collaborative experience.
In some cases, I did write about the spirituals themselves rather than the paintings, and the biggest challenge there was how to handle the different points of view and beliefs held about each of the songs. The were created and sung long before anybody had written about them, so the evidence as to their meanings, their dates of creation, and who was responsible for composing them varies wildly! And these opinions come from reliable, authoritative sources. Through this experience, I’ve developed enormous admiration and respect for our nonfiction writers.
What topics does your book touch upon that would make it a perfect fit for the classroom?
Both of my books touch on the history of American slavery, and LIKE A BIRD: THE ART OF THE AMERICAN SLAVE SONG also touches on Harriet Tubman, music and music history, and the visual arts.
genre: contemporary verse novel
age range: 8-12 years
Laura Shovan’s website
educator’s guide
This gently evocative study of change in all its glory and terror would make a terrific read-aloud or introduction to a poetry unit. A most impressive debut.
— School Library Journal
Please tell us about your book.
Imagine walking into school on the last first day of elementary school. Finally, your class is the big kids, fifth graders! But instead of gabbing about graduation ceremonies and middle school, everyone is talking about a rumor. The Board of Education wants to tear the school down in June. In THE LAST FIFTH GRADE OF EMERSON ELEMENTARY, Ms. Hill’s class decides to take action and save their school. Told in the voices of Ms. Hill’s 18 students, the book is a novel-in-verse, covering one memorable school year.
What inspired you to write this story?
I have worked as a poet-in-the-schools for the Maryland State Arts Council for fifteen years. All of my experiences writing poetry with elementary and middle schoolers are part of the inspiration for this book. When I began writing, THE LAST FIFTH GRADE was modeled after a classic American verse novel, Spoon River Anthology. I love the complicated, interwoven storylines in Edgar Lee Masters’ book of persona poems. I began with the idea that an elementary school classroom is a community, much like Masters’ town of Spoon River. Sharon Creech’s verse novel LOVE THAT DOG was also a big inspiration.
Could you share with readers how you conducted your research or share a few interesting tidbits you learned while researching?
Many of the poems were pulled from real life experiences, my own, my children’s, and my students’. There are little moments, such as Mark reading the Stargrams after the school play. That was from my daughter, who was stage manager at her middle school. Jason’s science project (described in the poem “Hammy Power”) is lifted right out of my son’s life. I also did research. Norah’s mixed feelings about wearing a shihab was inspired by an interview I heard on National Public Radio. The most formal research I did was reading articles about food deserts in our area. Of course, I had to brush up on literary definitions and poetic forms for the book’s backmatter.
What are some special challenges associated with writing in verse?
There are definitely some special challenges when writing a novel in verse. On the design-end, putting the book together is labor intensive. Every poem has to be individually laid out on the page. I’m so appreciative of the work that Random House’s art director Kate Garner and senior designer Trish Parcell did to make the book feel as cozy and inviting as it is. For the writer, revising a verse novel is especially challenging. There were many times when I literally pulled the book apart, spacing individual poems out on the floor of our family room so that I could reexamine their order and content. That meant it all had to be put back together again. My family got sick of hearing me describe the manuscript as a jigsaw puzzle.
What topics does your book touch upon that would make it a perfect fit for the classroom?
I could go on for pages about this, because THE LAST FIFTH GRADE is set in a classroom. What would I love to see? Students and readers writing science poems, math and art poems, trying new forms of poetry. Teachers borrowing Ms. Hill’s idea and putting a writing prompt jar in their classrooms. (There are some prompts to get started with at the back of the book.) Most of all, I’d like to see classrooms where writing and reading poetry is seen as fun and exciting instead of scary and intimidating. Poetry is made of language, and all of us—children too—use language every day. We’re experts! Poetry is a way of getting that language down on the page, playing with the words, polishing them up, and giving them the extra attention they deserve.
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