Hip Hop Speaks to Children: A Celebration of Poetry with a Beat

Giovanni, Nikki, ed. 2008. Hip Hop Speaks to Children: A Celebration of Poetry with a Beat. Ill. by Kristen Balouch, et al. Naperville: Sourcebooks.  ISBN 9781402210488

(Image obtained from amazon.com)

Summary

Hip Hop Speaks to Children: A Celebration of Poetry with a Beat is a mixed-media compilation of 51 poems from 42 different poets or hip hop performers.  The subject matter is varying. 

Quality and Appeal

Hip Hop Speaks to Children: A Celebration of Poetry with a Beat serves as a contemporary poetry manifesto which showcases hip hop and poetry with a beat.  The content is appropriate without venturing into explicit territory which allows this book to operate in the classroom as an educational tool.  Performers such as a Queen Latifah, Mos Def, Kanye West, Common, and Sugarhill Gang can be found proceeding and following literary greats such as Maya Angelou, W.E.B. Dubois and Martin Luther King, Jr, bridging the gap between the traditional and the modern. 

An audio CD accompanies the book.  The CD boasts 25 tracks which range from author-led readings, to guest readings, on through to instrumental and musical tracks.  The audio samplings allow children to hear author interpretation and intention while understanding poetry can be boxed and presented in all different fashions.  Further, illustrations by six different individuals provide a sense of diversity amongst the text through oils, watercolor, collage, and computer engineered graphics. 

While the intended audience for Hip Hop Speaks to Children: A Celebration of Poetry with a Beat is children in first through third grade, some of the concepts and ideals spread amongst the page will be lost on earlier readers.  However, the poetry still manages to serve as an introduction to tone, rhythm, and symbolism. 

Spotlight Poem

The Rose That Grew From Concrete by Tupac Shakur

Did u hear about the rose that grew from a crack

in the concrete

Proving nature’s laws wrong it learned 2 walk

without having feet

Funny it seems but by keeping its dreams

it learned 2 breath fresh air

Long live the rose that grew from the concrete

when no one else even cared!

Educators can use this poem to introduce poetic devices such as personification, metaphors, and symbolism.  Students can identify each component while writing a poem about themselves which showcases an issue that they have overcome. 

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