KidSpace Blog

Black History Month begins in a few days. There is so much wonderful poetry out there celebrating African American culture. I have listed a number of our books full of poetry.

Check one out today!

Here is one of my favorite children’s poems by Nikki Giovanni.

The Reason I Like Chocolate
By Nikki Giovanni

The reason I like chocolate
is I can lick my fingers
and nobody tells me I’m not polite

I especially like scary movies
’cause I can snuggle with Mommy
or my big sister and they don’t laugh

I like to cry sometimes ’cause
everybody says “what’s the matter
don’t cry”

and I like books
for all those reasons
but mostly ’cause they just make me
happy

and I really like
to be happy

From the book:

Pass It On: African-American Poetry for Children. Selected by Wade Hudson. Illustrated by Flloyd Cooper.  Scholastic Inc. 1993.

In Daddy’s Arms I AM TALL: African Americans Celebrating Father. Illustrated by Javaka Steptoe. Lee & Low Books Inc. 1997.

Words with Wings: A Treasury of African-American Poetry and Art. Selected by Belinda Rochelle. Harper Collins. 2001.

The Block. Poems by Langston Hughes. The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Viking. 1995.

Spin a Soft Black Song. Poems by Nikki Giovanni. Illustrated by George Martins. Revised Edition. Hill and Wang. 1985.

Hip Hop Speaks to Children: a celbration of poetry with a beat. Edited by Nikki Giovanni. Illustrated by Kristen Balouch, Michele Noiset, Jeremy Tugeau, Alicia Vergel de Dios, and Damian Ward. Sourcebooks, Inc. 2008.

(includes 1 audio cd. *hear Langston Hughes, Gwendolyn Brooks, Queen Latifa, and more…)