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| Image retrieved from The Undefeated: Kwame Alexander: 9781783449293: Amazon.com: Books |
Summary:
This book, also a poem, was written by Kwame Alexander and illustrated by Kadir Nelson as "a love letter to Black America." Kwame highlights the triumphs and tragedies in Black history, from Phillis Wheatley to Tamir Rice. In an afterward, Alexander explains in-depth the events and figures mentioned/illustrated in the poem. He also notes that while many of these people were identified as "colored" or "Negro" during their time, he chose to offer them more dignity with the contemporary terms "African American" and "Black" instead. This book, like R-E-S-P-E-C-T, won the Coretta Scott King award for its beautiful illustrations.
This book, also a poem, was written by Kwame Alexander and illustrated by Kadir Nelson as "a love letter to Black America." Kwame highlights the triumphs and tragedies in Black history, from Phillis Wheatley to Tamir Rice. In an afterward, Alexander explains in-depth the events and figures mentioned/illustrated in the poem. He also notes that while many of these people were identified as "colored" or "Negro" during their time, he chose to offer them more dignity with the contemporary terms "African American" and "Black" instead. This book, like R-E-S-P-E-C-T, won the Coretta Scott King award for its beautiful illustrations.
My Impressions and How I Would Use this Book:
This book was a difficult read, even for me as an adult. While I believe it is right and important for children to learn real history, not a sugarcoated version, I would not want young children to read about Sandra Bland's death or the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing on their own. I would read this book as a class, probably with third grade or older. Then we could circle-up and have some conversations about what we've read, and how it's important to celebrate the "righteous marching ones" and "the unafraid ones" while still mourning for those who experienced unspeakable horrors, while still being angry at injustice and fighting for things to be better. I would likely invite the school counselor to come in for these conversations and for anyone who needs one-on-one support. Then, moving forward in a Black history unit, we would focus on either hitting creating-change standards through writing to people in power and/or holding some kind of memorial, or focus on history and writing standards through a biography project where students can choose any figure in this book to write about and present to their peers.
This book was a difficult read, even for me as an adult. While I believe it is right and important for children to learn real history, not a sugarcoated version, I would not want young children to read about Sandra Bland's death or the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing on their own. I would read this book as a class, probably with third grade or older. Then we could circle-up and have some conversations about what we've read, and how it's important to celebrate the "righteous marching ones" and "the unafraid ones" while still mourning for those who experienced unspeakable horrors, while still being angry at injustice and fighting for things to be better. I would likely invite the school counselor to come in for these conversations and for anyone who needs one-on-one support. Then, moving forward in a Black history unit, we would focus on either hitting creating-change standards through writing to people in power and/or holding some kind of memorial, or focus on history and writing standards through a biography project where students can choose any figure in this book to write about and present to their peers.
Professional Review:
"Past and present are quilted together in this innovative overview of black Americans' triumphs and challenges in the United States.
Alexander's poetry possesses a straightforward, sophisticated, steady rhythm that, paired with Nelson's detail-oriented oil paintings, carries readers through generations chronicling "the unforgettable," "the undeniable," "the unflappable," and "the righteous marching ones," alongside "the unspeakable" events that shape the history of black Americans. The illustrator layers images of black creators, martyrs, athletes, and neighbors onto blank white pages, patterns pages with the bodies of slaves stolen and traded, and extends a memorial to victims of police brutality like Sandra Bland and Michael Brown past the very edges of a double-page spread. Each movement of Alexander's poem is a tribute to the ingenuity and resilience of black people in the U.S., with textual references to the writings of Gwendolyn Brooks, Martin Luther King Jr., Langston Hughes, and Malcolm X dotting stanzas in explicit recognition and grateful admiration. The book ends with a glossary of the figures acknowledged in the book and an afterword by the author that imprints the refrain "Black. Lives. Matter" into the collective soul of readers, encouraging them, like the cranes present throughout the book, to "keep rising."
An incredible connector text for young readers eager to graduate to weighty conversations about our yesterday, our now, and our tomorrow. (Picture book/poetry. 6-12)
Audience: Children's
ISBN: 978-1-328-78096-6
Author: Alexander, Kwame
Retrieved from: THE UNDEFEATED. (2019). Kirkus Reviews, Lxxxvii(3) https://login.ezproxy.jbu.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/trade-journals/undefeated/docview/2172026559/se-2
Alexander, K. (2019). The Undefeated. Versify.
"Past and present are quilted together in this innovative overview of black Americans' triumphs and challenges in the United States.
Alexander's poetry possesses a straightforward, sophisticated, steady rhythm that, paired with Nelson's detail-oriented oil paintings, carries readers through generations chronicling "the unforgettable," "the undeniable," "the unflappable," and "the righteous marching ones," alongside "the unspeakable" events that shape the history of black Americans. The illustrator layers images of black creators, martyrs, athletes, and neighbors onto blank white pages, patterns pages with the bodies of slaves stolen and traded, and extends a memorial to victims of police brutality like Sandra Bland and Michael Brown past the very edges of a double-page spread. Each movement of Alexander's poem is a tribute to the ingenuity and resilience of black people in the U.S., with textual references to the writings of Gwendolyn Brooks, Martin Luther King Jr., Langston Hughes, and Malcolm X dotting stanzas in explicit recognition and grateful admiration. The book ends with a glossary of the figures acknowledged in the book and an afterword by the author that imprints the refrain "Black. Lives. Matter" into the collective soul of readers, encouraging them, like the cranes present throughout the book, to "keep rising."
An incredible connector text for young readers eager to graduate to weighty conversations about our yesterday, our now, and our tomorrow. (Picture book/poetry. 6-12)
Audience: Children's
ISBN: 978-1-328-78096-6
Author: Alexander, Kwame
Retrieved from: THE UNDEFEATED. (2019). Kirkus Reviews, Lxxxvii(3) https://login.ezproxy.jbu.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/trade-journals/undefeated/docview/2172026559/se-2
Alexander, K. (2019). The Undefeated. Versify.
APA Citation
Alexander, K. (2019). The Undefeated. Versify.
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