Seeing with new eyes

I, TOO, AM AMERICA by Langston Hughes. Illustrations by Bryan Collier. Simon and Schuster, 2012.


Collier's illustrations a mixture of collage and painting, give a new look to the classic poem by Langston Hughes. How I wish that textbooks would replace the stark black ink on a white page with the array of illustrations Collier has created for this poem. From the young man peering through the stripes of the flag on the front cover of the book to the jubilant young girl that graces the back cover, this is a perfect way to engage readers young and old in the poem, in the work of Langston Hughes and in the art of this accomplished illustrator.