Guest post: Nikki Grimes

Photo credit: Aaron Lemen

I'm so happy to share my blog space with another poet for a guest post! The award-winning poet Nikki Grimes has a new book out in May and I thought it would be lovely to get a bit of back-story on it. I love what she has to say about representation here and I think you will too. So, please welcome Nikki Grimes and her new book, Southwest Sunrise (Bloomsbury, 2020), illustrated by the amazing Wendell Minor.

Nikki's bio: "New York Times bestselling author Nikki Grimes is the recipient of the 2017 Children's Literature Legacy Award, the 2016 Virginia Hamilton Literary Award, and the 2006 NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children. Her distinguished works include the much-honored books Garvey's Choice, ALA Notable book What is Goodbye?, Coretta Scott King Award winner Bronx Masquerade, and Coretta Scott King Author Honor books Jazmin's Notebook, Talkin' About Bessie, Dark Sons, Words with Wings, and The Road to Paris. Creator of the popular Meet Danitra Brown, Ms. Grimes lives in Corona, California."

Nikki writes:

Southwest Sunrise, my newest picture book, illustrated by Wendell Minor, is about to make its way into the world. I love how Kirkus closed its starred review of the book. "How glorious: a story about a black child experiencing the outdoors that is beautiful in every way." What's so special about that sentence is how it hints at my core reason for writing this book.

Too often, the children's books featuring black characters that make it through the publishing machine represent a single story. That story is set against an urban landscape, with a family that is either broken, dysfunctional, or both, and centers around some stereotypical socio-economic problem that the child must overcome, or be rescued from. In fact, such stories are often referred to as "problem books." Then there are, of course, slave narratives, black biographies, and books chronicling civil rights issues—all of which are important. That said, are they the only stories there are to tell? Do black children not have experiences outside of this narrow framework? Of course they do! There are black children from strong families with happy homes, children growing up in the suburbs, in rural areas, and gathering eggs on their family's farms. They call ranches home, live in beach cities, even overseas. And there are black children whose daily lives and imaginations are fueled by engagement with Nature. Where are those stories? It's high time we see more of them, and that's one of the reasons I wrote this book.

Southwest Sunrise is a story in poems about Jayden, a boy suddenly transplanted from New York City to the wide-open spaces of New Mexico. This move was his parent's idea, and Jayden's not too happy about leaving his friends, and his city, behind.

Too old to cry myself to sleep,

I hide behind my baseball cap,

close my eyes, and pout

all the way from New York

to New Mexico,

mad about moving to a place 

of shadows.

That's all I see when we land.

Why are we here?  

What's so great about

New Mexico?

Like it or not, this is Jayden's new home, so he takes the field guide his mother hands him at the breakfast table, and steps outside to explore.  

I shiver from the silence

unbroken by

the familiar sound of sirens—

but not for long.

A few yards down the road,

I pick up the mad chatter

of winged gossips

passing secrets

from one unfamiliar tree to another.

The guidebook calls them

piñon trees 

Little by little, Jayden discovers prehistoric looking lizards, flowers in flaming colors he's never seen, and unfamiliar species of birds like ravens, and magpies.

Someone should tell these

flying chatterboxes

magpies are beautiful

when their beaks are still,

when they sail on air

and write across the sky

with the long black tips

of their tails.

Jayden misses New York City's skyscrapers, but the red rock outcroppings all around show him that New Mexico has skyscrapers of its own.

What's so great about New Mexico? Read Southwest Sunrise and find out.

Sylvia: Thanks so much, Nikki, for sharing this glimpse of your new book. Living in Texas, I've been to New Mexico many times and I love it too-- especially the landscape. White Sands is one of my favorite places on the planet! Can't wait to get my hands on this book in May!

Next, head on over to My Juicy Little Universe where poet and teacher Heidi Mordhorst is hosting our Poetry Friday fun.