Picture Book #4 

Authors: Dorothy Strickland and Michael Strickland

Title:  Families: Poems Celebrating the African American Experience

Illustrator:  John Ward

Readability score:  Grade 3

Genre:  Poetry

Subgenre: N/A

Theme:  African American family life

Primary and secondary characters:  Mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles

Awards: N/A

Date of Publication:  1994

Publishing company:  Wordsong

ISBN number:  1-56397-288-3

This book consists of 23 poems written by, about, and for American Americans.  The poems are about all the components that make up an African American family and their daily lives.  Some poems are about interactions between family members.  Others concern simple things such as going to bed or favorite things.  Some poems give direct insight as to what it means to be African American.

There are many different types of poems within this book, so I could use it to provide examples of the  subgenres of poetry during a Poetry unit.  I could also incorporate this poetry book into Black History Month studies as a way to introduce the spirit of the African American people and celebrate the people who wrote the poems.  This book could be incorporated at other times during the year as a way to represent multiculturalism in the classroom and help students become more understanding of diversity.