That Is My Dream!: A picture book of Langston Hughes's "Dream Variation"

by Langston Hughes, Daniel Miyares (Illustrator)

Overview

“Dream Variation,” one of Langston Hughes's most celebrated poems, about the dream of a world free of discrimination and racial prejudice, is now a picture book stunningly illustrated by Daniel Miyares, the acclaimed creator of Float.

To fling my arms wide
In some place of the sun,
To whirl and to dance
Till the white day is done….

Langston Hughes's inspiring and timeless message of pride, joy, and the dream of a better life is brilliantly and beautifully interpreted in Daniel Miyares's gorgeous artwork.
 
Follow one African-American boy through the course of his day as the harsh reality of segregation and racial prejudice comes into vivid focus. But the boy dreams of a different life—one full of freedom, hope, and wild possibility, where he can fling his arms wide in the face of the sun.

Hughes's powerful vision, brought joyously to life by Daniel Miyares, is as relevant—and necessary—today as when it was first written.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780399550171
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	10/03/2017
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	49,502
Product dimensions:	9.90(w) x 8.80(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	AD250L (what's this?)
Age Range:	3 - 8 Years

About the Author

Langston Hughes (1902-1967) is one of the most beloved and celebrated American poets of all time. He published his first poem "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" in The Crisis magazine in 1921. His first book of poems, The Weary Blues, which includes the poem "Dream Variation," was published by Knopf in 1926 when Hughes was only twenty-four years old. Hughes was an important leader of the Harlem Renaissance during the 1920s. During his lifetime, he was awarded a Guggenhiem Fellowship (1935), a Rosenwald Fellowship (1940), and an American Academy of Arts and Letters Grant (1947). In addition to poetry, Hughes wrote short stories, novels, memoirs, essays, and plays.
 
Daniel Miyares is the author and illustrator of Float, an ALA-ALSC Notable Children's Book of the Year, which The Boston Globe called, "a perfect wordless book;" Pardon Me!; and Bring Me a Rock! He also illustrated Surf's Up by Newbery Medalist Kwame Alexander. He lives in Kansas City, MO, with his wife and their two children. Visit him on the web at danielmiyares.com or on Twitter @danielmiyares.

Editorial Reviews

★ 08/21/2017
With luminous washes of watercolor and the lyrical language of Hughes’s 1924 poem as his text, Miyares (That Neighbor Kid) presents a resonant vision of an African-American boy who imagines a more just world. Feeling rambunctious (“To fling my arms wide”), the boy boards a bus with his mother and sister to meet his father, a factory worker, for a picnic dinner. As the verse continues—“In some place of the sun/ To whirl and to dance/ Till the white day is done”—Miyares reveals that the boy lives in the segregated South. Unlike the white family who crosses his path, the boy and his family must sit in the back of the bus and drink from the “Colored Only” water fountain. But in the soft beauty of twilight (“Dark like me”), the boy dreams away these false barriers: Miyares shows black and white children together, magically soaring on giant birds, and (more pointedly) drinking from the same stream. As the stars come out, the reverie ends, but it’s clear that the boy has gained a measure of hope and a reaffirmed sense of his identity. All ages. Illustrator’s agency: Studio Goodwin Sturges. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

★ 2017-06-27
A quietly powerful picture book that Hughes himself would have adored.Like Charles R. Smith's My People and E.B. Lewis' The Negro Speaks of Rivers, Miyares' rendition of Hughes' famous poem connects intimately with children's lives. In the illustrations alone, Miyares creates the story of a little suspenders-wearing African-American boy who travels to town in the back of the bus with his mother and sister, at the same time developing a mutual interest in a little white boy who rides in the front of the same bus with his mother and sister. The boys sneak glances at each other while on the bus, walking in town, and drinking from water fountains labeled "WHITES ONLY" and "COLORED ONLY." That evening, Dad joins the black family for a picnic. A brown sparrow lands on the boy's finger, prompting a turn in the realistic narrative. The line "That is my dream!" initiates the fantasy. As the sun sets, the two sets of siblings ride on colorful birds (sparrow, goldfinch, bluebird, and cardinal): "Dance! Whirl! Whirl!" together in the sky. Miyares' historically situated watercolor illustrations perfectly capture the tensions of racial segregation, contrasting them against the joy and peace that come from the freedom for all children to make friends who don't look like them. A must-read illustrated poem that breathes new life into Hughes' "Dream Variation." (Picture book. 5-8)

Kirkus Reviews

"A must-read illustrated poem that breathes new life into Hughes' "Dream Variation." —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"With luminous washes of watercolor and the lyrical language of Hughes’s 1924 poem as his text, Miyares (That Neighbor Kid) presents a resonant vision of an African-American boy who imagines a more just world." —Publishers Weekly, starred review

From the Publisher

Artist Daniel Miyares hand letters the text of Langston Hughes’ poem, “Dream Variations,” and uses vivid gouache illustrations to inspire hope for racial reconciliation. Set before the Civil Rights Movement, a Black family boards a bus and sits sadly in the back, while White riders occupy the front seats. A segregated water fountain emphasizes the differences between a White child’s experience and a Black child’s experience. At the end of the day, a Black family picnics beneath a tree, and the boy narrator describes the sky as “Dark like me.” The second stanza of the poem offers an integrated experience, with both Black children and White children riding giant birds in the air toward the sun, arms raised in an expression of freedom and joy. In contrast to the earlier drinking fountain illustration, this time the children drink from the same pond as equals. Four children, two Black and two White, welcome the evening together beneath a tree, and night returns, “Black like me.” Two-page spreads provide expansive illustrations of the children, while the beautiful language reveals the power of poetry to express ideas simply. The Illustrator’s Note at the end offers readers a glimpse into his purpose in illustrating the poem, and this may help spark dialogue for young readers about empathy and equality. Reviewer: Michele Hughes; Ages 4 to 8.

Children's Literature - Michele Hughes