Fact Friday: Legacy: Women Poets of the Harlem Renaissance by Nikki Grimes

Image: Bloomsbury

Legacy: Women Poets of the Harlem Renaissance by Nikki Grimes. Illustrated by many. Bloomsbury Children's Books, January, 2021. 9781681199443. (Review of finished copy borrowed from public library.)

Happy Friday! We made it! Spring break is upon us! I am so ready for this break. I have no plans except to read, work in my garden and be active every day.

Fact Friday features Legacy: Women Poets of the Harlem Renaissance by Nikki Grimes. Ms. Grimes pays homage to the under-appreciated female poets of the Harlem Renaissance through the"Golden Shovel" poetic method. This means she took a line or two from original poems by groundbreaking Black women, largely ignored, to create her own poems. Each spread features the original poem with the line(s) chosen bolded, followed by Ms. Grimes' new poem along with a brilliant illustration created by a Black female artist.

Ms. Grimes teaches readers a bit about the Harlem Renaissance and the "Golden Shovel" method as a preface to her collection. Back matter consists of poet biographies as well as artist biographies, sources, permissions and an index making this a terrific resource for aspiring poets and students of cultural history.

This is first-purchase! No poetry collection would be complete without this book. I plan on purchasing it for my own library as well as my school's. It's a book I know I will revisit often.