Multicultural Children's Literature Author Studies: Eloise Greenfield

Her work often portrays strong, loving African American families and communities, such as the ones in which she grew up.
Born May 17, 1929 in Parmele, North Carolina, and grew up in Washington, D.C., during the Great Depression in a housing project called Langston Terrace.
As a child, she was shy and studious. She loved music and took piano lessons
She graduated from Cardozo Senior High School in 1946 and attended Miner Teachers College until 1949. In her third year, however, she found that she was too shy to be a teacher and dropped out.
She began writing poetry and songs in the 1950s.
After joining the District of Columbia Black Writers Workshop in 1971, she began to write books for children.
She has published more than 40 children's books, including picture books, novels, poetry and biographies.

Quotes:

Eloise Greenfield loves writing. She has said, "I love words…sometimes they make me laugh. Other times, I feel a kind of pain in struggling to find the right ones. But I keep struggling, because I want to do my best, and because I want children to have the best."

Awards:

Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children, given by the National Council of Teachers of English. In 1999 she became a member of the National Literary Hall of Fame for Writers of African Descent

Fiction Books:

Non-Fiction/Bibliographies:

Poetry:

Selected Works:

Bubbles (1972, illustrated by Eric Marlow, later reprinted as Good News)
She Come Bringing Me that Little Baby Girl (1974, illustrated by John Steptoe; winner of the Irma Simonton Black Award, Bank Street College of Education)
Sister (1974, illustrated by Moneta Barnett; winner of The New York Times Outstanding Book of the Year citation)
Me and Neesie (1975, illustrated by Moneta Barnett)
First Pink Light (1976, illustrated by Barnett)
Africa Dream (1976, illustrated by Carole Byard; winner of the Coretta Scott King Award)
I Can Do It by Myself (1978, with her mother, Lessie Jones Little, illustrated by Byard)
Talk About a Family (1978, illustrated by James Calvin)
Darlene (1980, illustrated by George Ford)
Grandmama's Joy (1980, illustrated by Byard)
Grandpa's Face (1988, illustrated by Floyd Cooper)
Big Friend, Little Friend (1991, illustrated by Jan Spivey Gilchrist)
I Make Music (1991, illustrated by Gilchrist)
Lisa's Daddy and Daughter Day (1991, illustrated by Gilchrist)
My Doll, Keshia (1991, illustrated by Gilchrist)
My Daddy and I (1991, illustrated by Gilchrist)
Koya DeLaney and the Good Girl Blues (1992)
Aaron and Gayla's Alphabet Book (1993, illustrated by Gilchrist)
William and the Good Old Days (1993, illustrated by Gilchrist)
Sweet Baby Coming (1994, illustrated by Gilchrist)
Honey, I Love (1995 picture book, illustrated by Gilchrist)
On My Horse (1995, illustrated by Gilchrist)
Easter Parade (1998, illustrated by Gilchrist)
The Friendly Four (2006, illustrated by Gilchrist)
Brothers & Sisters (2008, illustrated by Gilchrist)

Biographies and non-fiction

Rosa Parks (1973, illustrated by Eric Marlow; winner of the 1974 Carter G. Woodson Book Award from the National Council for the Social Studies)
Paul Robeson (1975, illustrated by Ford; winner of the 1976 Jane Addams Children's Book Award)
Mary McLeod Bethune (1977, illustrated by Pinkney)
Childtimes: A Three Generation Memoir (1979, with L. J. Little, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney)
Alesia (1981, with Alesia Revis, illustrated by Ford, with photographs by Sandra Turner Bond)
For the Love of the Game: Michael Jordan and Me (1997, illustrated by Gilchrist)
How They Got Over: African Americans and the Call of the Sea (2003, illustrated by Gilchrist)

Poetry

Honey, I Love and Other Poems (1978, illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon; winner of the Recognition of Merit Award)
Daydreamers (1981, illustrated by Tom Feeling)
Nathaniel Talking (1988, illustrated by Gilchrist)
Under the Sunday Tree (1988, illustrated by Amos Ferguson)
Night on Neighborhood Street (1991, illustrated by Gilchrist)
Angels (1998, illustrated by Gilchrist)
I Can Draw a Weeposaur and Other Dinosaurs (2001, illustrated by Gilchrist)
In the Land of Words (2004, illustrated by Gilchrist)

Video:

Book Responses:

First Pink Light
Summary: A boy talks his mother into letting him wait up for his father's return. The focus here is not on just the events, however, but also on the emotions involved--Tyree's elation with the cardboard fort he hides in while his mother does her homework, his sweetly transparent manipulations to get his way and, finally, as the ``first pink light'' of dawn appears, his welcome surrender to sleep.
Personal Response: This is a gentle, touching story about a loving family. If you have a child too excited to go to sleep, this should be the bedtime story to choose. Greenfield uses Poignant text and sensitive illustrations to characterize this book. Accordingly, Gilchrist's illustrations focus on those windows of emotion, the faces. Her portraits are suffused with ardor and affection, and help create fully realized characters. Kudos also to this duo for their loving depiction of an African American family with a strong father figure.

Brothers & Sisters
Summary: This children's book is about the bond between all siblings and celebrates the love of brothers and sisters everywhere with it's collection of poems for and about families.
Personal Response: I thought this book was very good African American poem book. The book has so many poems about family and unity. I would love to read this book to a crowd of toddlers and third graders. Reminding children of how family is and suppose to be.I thought this book was very powerful and would be a great addition to a classroom. This book allows children to understand the importance of family. It provides inspirational poems that represent hopes, dreams, and bonds that cannot be stronger than that of a brother and sister. This book also demonstrates emotion as well as appreciation one has towards others and oneself when taking the time to see exactly how much meaning they have in life.