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crystal_reading's review against another edition
4.0
I have shared this book with four different second grade classes this year and it has been a hit. Readers learn about Danitra through the voice of her friend Zuri. We all need a friend like Zuri. One who celebrates us. Their friendship isn't without problems, but it is a good one. The students enjoy the poetry too.
akooiker21's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
This children's poetry book describes the life of a young girl named Danitra Brown, told by her best friend. Through this series of poems, we can learn about her culture, life at home, her best friend, what she likes to do, and so much more. This book does an excellent job of displaying a variety of literary devices used in poetry while using a light-hearted and, at times, funny story. This book would be ideal for children ages 5-9. In the classroom, this book would make an excellent read-aloud when teaching a unit on poetry and for helping students identify various literary devices of poetry.
gymnerdreader's review against another edition
5.0
Annotated Bibliography Poetry Entry #1: Meet Danitra Brown by Nikki Grimes
Summary:
Meet Danitra Brown is a children's poetry book that features a young African American girl, named Zuri who uses each poem to introduce us to Danitra Brown and their friendship. As readers we get to know a lot about Danitra from Zuri, such as she likes purple and desires to win the Nobel Prize. Besides the concept of friendship this book touches on other important topics, such as single parent homes, race and bullying. It is not surprising to me that this poetry book is still popular among children today (This was read to me when I was a kid). It's poems and various themes truly are timeless.
Personal Response:
I absolutely loved this poetry book when I was in elementary school because the poems rhyme and are almost musical when you read it, which was extremely appealing to me as a kid (In fact when I was a kid, if poems didn't rhyme it wasn't poetry). However from a future educator's perspective I like how it touches on complex and difficult themes, such as race, bullying and single parent homes, which is often not explored in depth for the younger ages. Definitely an engaging read that will appeal to young children
Descriptions of Illustrations:
The dark, often fuzzy shades really bring the characters and the setting to life. The shading and style of illustration definitely gives off both a realistic and vintage (book was published in 1995) feel. When I was looking through at the illustrations I was struck by how realistic they were! I feel like such illustrations really bring you into a story.
Classroom Connections:
This is a perfect book for a read aloud and a perfect book for a poetry unit. I feel that students could easily write their own poems based off of these poems. Students could write poems introducing the class to their friends and they could use these poems as inspiration for what to write about. This activity could be beneficial in strengthening literacy skills and comprehension and it could teach students about the importance of friendship as well. In terms of read aloud, this book could lead into great discussions about friendship and the meaning of friendship.
Summary:
Meet Danitra Brown is a children's poetry book that features a young African American girl, named Zuri who uses each poem to introduce us to Danitra Brown and their friendship. As readers we get to know a lot about Danitra from Zuri, such as she likes purple and desires to win the Nobel Prize. Besides the concept of friendship this book touches on other important topics, such as single parent homes, race and bullying. It is not surprising to me that this poetry book is still popular among children today (This was read to me when I was a kid). It's poems and various themes truly are timeless.
Personal Response:
I absolutely loved this poetry book when I was in elementary school because the poems rhyme and are almost musical when you read it, which was extremely appealing to me as a kid (In fact when I was a kid, if poems didn't rhyme it wasn't poetry). However from a future educator's perspective I like how it touches on complex and difficult themes, such as race, bullying and single parent homes, which is often not explored in depth for the younger ages. Definitely an engaging read that will appeal to young children
Descriptions of Illustrations:
The dark, often fuzzy shades really bring the characters and the setting to life. The shading and style of illustration definitely gives off both a realistic and vintage (book was published in 1995) feel. When I was looking through at the illustrations I was struck by how realistic they were! I feel like such illustrations really bring you into a story.
Classroom Connections:
This is a perfect book for a read aloud and a perfect book for a poetry unit. I feel that students could easily write their own poems based off of these poems. Students could write poems introducing the class to their friends and they could use these poems as inspiration for what to write about. This activity could be beneficial in strengthening literacy skills and comprehension and it could teach students about the importance of friendship as well. In terms of read aloud, this book could lead into great discussions about friendship and the meaning of friendship.
octavia_cade's review against another edition
3.0
2.5 stars, rounding up to 3. I want to like this better than I do. I enjoy the fact that this is a book of poems about friendship between girls. The relationship between them is warm and supportive, and even though they fight occasionally they always come back to each other. That this friendship is so successfully sketched out in just over a dozen short poems is genuinely impressive. That said, I didn't think the poems themselves were that great. They're likeable enough, and maybe it's just that I tend to find rhyming poems a hard sell at the best of times, but there were a few places where it all just felt a bit clunky to me. The illustrations are absolutely beautiful, though.
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