Book Description
for The Block by Langston Hughes and Romare Bearden
From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
Full-color reproductions from Romare Bearden's 1971 mural "The Block" are accompanied by twelve poems by Langston Hughes. In his introduction to the elegant, almost cinematic volume measuring 12 1/4 x 9 1/4", Bill Cosby relates how the mural reflects the people and events of a busy, exciting Harlem neighborhood. He comments that "it is also a universal place, a recognizable and familiar environment for many people from around the world," pointing out that while "Bearden shows us the sights, Hughes gives us the sounds." A full-page biography of each man with his photograph completes this singular book. (Age 11-adult)
CCBC Choices 1995. © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 1995. Used with permission.