Coming Home

August 29, 1994
This insightful picture book illuminates, in both words and art, moments from the childhood of poet Langston Hughes (1902-1967). Facing difficult times with his parents because of segregation and other forms of racism, Hughes spent many of his early years in the care of his grandmother in Lawrence, Kans. As told by Cooper ( From Miss Ida's Porch ) in the first book he has written as well as illustrated, the wide-open Midwest offers Langston plenty of space to dream, but staying with poor and aging Grandma proves mostly sad and lonely. An eventual move to the home of family friends ushers in a rosy period of love and care that encourages Hughes's burgeoning writing career. Young readers may not understand how Hughes's childhood shaped his adult work, but they are likely to enjoy this story in and of itself. Warmly lit oil portraits, so atmospheric that the sounds of daily life seem to emanate from them, are almost sure to prompt questions about the era, while a muted palette of browns, golds and pinks establishes a comfortable mood. A fine tribute. Ages 7-10.

November 1, 1994
K-Gr 4-Langston Hughes's lonely boyhood is presented with empathy in this picture-book biography. Cooper recounts how Hughes was raised by his grandmother, whose vivid stories of black heroism fueled his imagination, until she, with age, retreated into silence. His mostly absent parents appeared briefly but were unable to offer him a real parental relationship. When he moved in with family friends, he felt for the first time what it was like to have a home. Cooper's writing proves equal to his artwork in highlighting elements that convey the emotion and important events from his subject's youth. His earth-toned, hazy paintings have little detail but expressively depict moments and people. This does not attempt to be a complete biography. Rather, it focuses on those aspects of Hughes's childhood that relate to the central theme of finding a home. Teachers looking for a good way to introduce youngsters to this prominent poet will find this book to be an excellent accompaniment to his work.-Louise L. Sherman, Anna C. Scott School, Leonia, NJ

October 1, 1994
Gr. 3-6. The lonely child's search for home is the center of this touching picture book about Langston Hughes. In the first book that artist Cooper has written as well as illustrated, he combines large, soft-textured, earth-tone paintings with a warm, immediate storytelling voice. Dreamy words and pictures express the boy's yearning for a "home with his ma and pa. A home he would never have to leave." There are close-ups of his strong grandmother (who told him family stories of pride and glory) as well as views of his loving foster home and of the streets of Kansas City, where the child heard the "jazzy old blues music that drifted down the alleys and tickled his soul." Like Hughes' poetry, the power of Cooper's story is that it confronts the sadness even as it transcends it. Children like Hughes who dream of a "real home" will take heart from the story of the boy who found community and grew up to write astonishing poetry about it. Some of that poetry has recently been reissued in "The Dream Keeper." ((Reviewed October 1, 1994))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1994, American Library Association.)