Sail Away

A celebration of mermaids, wildernesses of waves, and the creatures of the deep through poems by Langston Hughes and cut-paper collage illustrations by multiple Coretta Scott King Award winner Ashley Bryan.

The great African American poet Langston Hughes penned poem after poem about the majesty of the sea, and the great African American artist Ashley Bryan, who's spent more than half his life on a small island, is as drawn to the sea as much as he draws the sea.

Their talents combine in this windswept collection of illustrated poems--from "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" to "Seascape," from "Sea Calm" to "Sea Charm"--that celebrates all things oceanic.

Author: Langston Hughes
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Published: 09/01/2015
Pages: 40
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.95lbs
Size: 10.60h x 9.30w x 0.50d
ISBN: 9781481430852
Audience: Ages 4-8

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 4.3
Point Value: 0.5
Interest Level: Lower Grade
Quiz #/Name: 177807 / Sail Away: Poems by Langston Hughes


Award: Parents Choice Awards (Fall) (2008-Up) - Gold Medal Winner


Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 07/15/2015
Booklist 09/01/2015 pg. 95
Publishers Weekly 10/05/2015
Horn Book Magazine 11/01/2015 pg. 96
School Library Journal 11/01/2015 pg. 132
Kirkus Best Middle Grade Books 11/15/2015 pg. 79
PW Children's Starred Reviews 12/02/2015 pg. 56
Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/2016 - Superior,Well Above Average

About the Author
Langston Hughes (1902-1967) was born in Joplin, Missouri, and lived much of his life in Harlem, New York. As one America's most cherished chroniclers of the black experience, known for his work during the Harlem Renaissance, Hughes's work was constantly groundbreaking throughout his forty-six-year career. His poetry about the ocean and the symbolism that surrounds it stems from his travels through Africa and Europe working as a seaman.

Ashley Bryan grew up to the sound of his mother singing from morning to night, and he has shared the joy of song with children ever since. A beloved illustrator, he was recently named a Newbery Honoree for his picture book, Freedom Over Me. He has also been the recipient of the Coretta Scott King--Virginia Hamilton Lifetime Achievement Award; the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award; has been a May Hill Arbuthnot lecturer; a Coretta Scott King Award winner; and the recipient of countless other awards and recognitions. His books include Freedom Over Me; Sail Away; Beautiful Blackbird; Beat the Story-Drum, Pum Pum; Let It Shine; Ashley Bryan's Book of Puppets; and What a Wonderful World. He lives in Islesford, one of the Cranberry Isles off the coast of Maine.