"Harlem: A Poem" by Walter Dean Myers, Illustrated by Christopher Myers

Image Courtesy of: http://capitolchoices.communitypoint.org/images/resources/Book/harlem_lg.gif

Bibliographic Citation

Title: Harlem: A Poem

Author: Walter Dean Myers

Illustrator: Christopher Myers

Year of Publication: 1997

Publisher City: New York

Publisher: Scholastic Press

ISBN: 0590543407

Author Website: http://www.walterdeanmyers.net/

Illustrator Website: No Illustrator Website

Media Used for Artwork: Collage, Ink, Gouache

Awards

·         Coretta Scott King Award Honor Book, 1998

·         Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book Fiction/Poetry, 1997

·         Booklist Starred Review

Annotation

This picture book is a poem that praises the culture and history of the community of Harlem, which gave birth to the Harlem Renaissance and other dominate figures in African American Culture. 

Personal Reaction

                This book deserves to be read several times.  Every time it is read a reader will discover someone or something else that they missed before.  Many historical figures are mentioned in the poem to show the importance of Harlem.  These people include Malcolm X, Billie Holiday, and many more.  Older readers will appreciate this book because of the depth of it.  Younger readers may not pick up on the many allusions used in the poem.

                The multiple styles in the illustrations are unique.  The mixture of ink, gouache, and collage adds a great deal of texture to the illustrations, which visually shows the many layers of Harlem.  One of my favorite images is a man sitting while holding a cane.  It is a great example of the collages used.  The text that makes up the wall makes the man stand out even more.

Curriculum: Grade 9- English: This book can be used to teach about the impact that Harlem has had on African American culture and the entire world.  As a group, a teacher and students can figure out whom the different people are that are mentioned in the poem.  From there as individuals or groups students can conduct research and present that information to the class. 

To keep in relation to the picture book students can create illustrations of the person they researched in the style used by Myers in the book.

Use of Allusion: To show the many levels of Harlem this poem uses multiple allusions to famous historical figure.

Example:

“Caught by a full lipped, full hipped

Saint washing collard greens in a cracked

Porcelain sink

Backing up Lady Day on the radio”