Scan barcode
A review by gymnerdreader
Meet Danitra Brown by Nikki Grimes
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.