Summary
The Blacker the Berry is a beautifully
illustrated book of 12 poems about the different shades of skin color
found in African American children, the product of mixed marriages.
Each poem describes a child whose natural color is celebrated and
likened to the colors of berries, leaves turning color, the darkest
night, or eggplants. The acceptance of these colors among the
children is what makes these poems truly amazing. They seem to
understand that each heritage is important in their identity and that
it is alright to be "Raspberry Black" or "Golden
Goodness" The illustrations compliment each poem and shows a
different child of color as they are in nature. Some are solemn and
others are joyful, but all are extraordinarily portrayed with
emotion.
Impressions
It is easy to see why this book became
a Coretta Scott King Award winner for illustrations. Floyd Cooper
creates such emotion in each picture, it is amazing and a joy to see.
The African American children are all different shades of color,
from dark eggplant to toast. The final picture shows all the
children together as a group. The final poem is aptly entitled
"Color Stuck" and describes the children's varied hair
textures and facial features. The poem likens the children's skin
tones as "palettes of skin" like how an artist will strike
"his canvas with his brush of many hues".
There are many issues of identity
within this book. One particular poem discusses the varied skin
tones within a family. From the grandmother, a child is told "I
gave you my soul, in whatever color you're wearing now."
Another poem speaks of the hurt that others can dole out by
criticizing one's color. From other African Americans who do not
accept those of mixed blood, a child says, "The words cut deep
down/ beyond the bone/ beneath my snowy skin/".
Use in the library
Children can be introduced to poetry
using this book. The illustrations will attract them, and the
meaning of the poems are very clear. The book can be used as an
example for children to find acceptance of their own heritage of
mixed nationalities, or those of their classmates. An activity that
would go well with this book is to create a simple family tree.
Students can gather photographs of their parents, siblings, and
grandparents and paste them on the tree. They can interview their
family members and ask what color in nature would they would compare
their skin tone to. Students can also write a poem that describes
some feature about themselves that stand out and says who they are.
They can write about their hair color, or shape of their lips, or
their noses.
Reviews
"The varieties of African-American
ethnic heritage are often rendered invisible by the rigid
construction of racial identity that insists on polarities, This
collection of 12 poems makes the complexities of a layered heritage
visible and the many skin shades celebrated. Read-aloud-sized spreads
offer luminous artwork that complements the verses in which children
speak of their various hues; "I am midnight and berries,,."
a child says in the title poem. In another selection, a boy recalls
his Seminóle grandmother who has given him the color of "red
raspberries stirred into blackberries." In "Cranberry Red."
a child asserts that "it's my Irish ancestors/Who reddened the
Africa in my face," understanding that "When we measure who
we are/We don't leave anybody out." The large illustrations
match the lyrical poetry's emotional range. Cooper's method includes
"pulling" the drawing out from a background of oil paint
and glazes. With his subtractive method, he captures the joy of these
children -the sparkle of an eye, the width of a grin, the lovely
depths of their skin, and the light that radiates from within. "
Reviewed by Teresa Pfeife.
Thomas introduces her collection of
twelve poems with this line, set off by itself on a double-page
spread: “Colors, without black, couldn’t sparkle quite so
bright.” The accompanying picture, executed in Cooper’s
characteristic dark grained, luminous style, shows a brown skinned
child holding up a handful of sparkling berries in shades from black
to deep purple to pink. Thomas’s theme here is the varying skin
colors of African American children. In “Raspberry Black” a
little boy is shown reading an ancestor’s journal that tells “How
she loved her Seminole Indian husband / How her children were
African-Native-American /
The color of black dipped in red.”
Not all of the poems directly address ethnicity or heritage in their
celebration of blackness, as in “Night Shade” (“I feel as
purple / As the night shade / Of an eggplant”) or “Biscuit Brown”
(“I am biscuit brown / Brown as a biscuit / All warm and waiting /
for berries / that I carry / to the kitchen and can”). This
collection will encourage African American children to embrace the
skin they’re in and, by extension, invite children of all races to
enjoy whatever their heritage has made them. By S. Lempke for Horn
Book Magazine, 2008.
Resources
Lempke, S. (2008). [Review of the book
The blacker the berry]. Horn Book Magazine, 84(5),
604-605.
Retrieved
from http://archive.hbook.com/magazine/
Pfeifer, T. (2008). The Blacker the
Berry. School Library Journal, 54(8), 114. Retrieved
from http://www.slj.com/
Thomas, J. C. (2008). The blacker
the berry. Ill. by Floyd
Cooper. New York, NY:
HarperCollins.
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