The Blacker the Berry by Joyce Carol Thomas

Thomas, Joyce Carol. Ill. by Floyd Cooper. The Blacker the Berry. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2008. ISBN:978-0-06-025375-2

SUMMARY

Joyce Carol Thomas celebrates the richness, sweetness, and depth of color in The Blacker the Berry, a collection of poems that embrace the heritage of African Americans.  Each poem features a child who describes his or her own uniqueness in color and traits rooted in a rich heritage.  Pride in who they are resounds from each page, but not in a boastful manner. Instead it's a joyous book whose children delight in their beauty and the beauty of the world around them. The Blacker the Berry is a poetry book of celebration, with an uplifting and positive outlook on the beauty of individuals and their families.

ANALYSIS

Joyce Carol Thomas uses the images of berries in her poetry collection The Blacker the Berry to compare the beauty of African American children to the richness of berries. Each poem that she wrote calls to all of the senses to experience color through taste, touch, and smell. Floyd Cooper's beautiful illustrations of children and adults complement the poems and add depth to their meanings.

The words she uses to describe the children's colors are sometimes sharp and sweet, like the tang of a berry when first tasted.  One boy, whose grandmother was African American and grandfather was Seminole Indian describes himself as "raspberry black." The description rolls across the tongue with the  word "raspberry" and then firmly ends with "black." Smooth, solid, real. Other descriptions are warm and comfortable. In "Biscuit Brown," the young boy says, "I am biscuit brown/ Brown as a biscuit/All warm and waiting for berries/that I carry/to the kitchen and can."

Thomas shows her enjoyment for the sounds of words combined together in catchy phrases. In "Biscuit Brown" she describes the loganberries as, "Dancing prickly sweet/In my sunny backyard".  These words send out a happy mood, the pleasure of picking fruit on a vine to be made into jelly in a simple, yet delightful, moment.  In her poem, "Toast," the young girl says, "I am toasted wheat berry bread/Spread with melted butter/I am mango mellow/and gooseberry good/I am so toasty/the sun calls me his toasty child." The words meld together (mango mellow) in a luxurious smoothness, then quickly become sweet (gooseberry good), and then playful (toasty child). All the senses can experience the beauty of the child's nature because of Thomas's skillful use of words to capture images and moods.

Using the imagery of fruit realizes the purpose of the book. The children in the book are at least fourth generation American. Their heritage runs deep, just as the roots of berry trees run deep. The family branches are vast, as are the branches of a vine. The children are beautiful and sweet, as are the fruits produced by the vines. The children, aware of their parents, grandparents, and even great-grandparents, remember them when they see their own reflections and think of their own place in the world. In "Cranberry Red" the girl wonders why she is red. She muses, "Maybe it's my Irish ancestors/who reddened the African in my face/I don't know/...We don't leave anybody out/We count who we are/And add all who came before us..." The roots of the plant are as important as the fruit it produces.

The Blacker the Berry is a poetry book whose message delights and enlightens. It reaches into the soul of the reader to see with all senses, not just with the eyes.

AWARDS

Coretta Scott King Book Award, 2009 - Honor Book Author, United States

Coretta Scott King Book Award, 2009 - Winner Illustrator, United States

Cybil Award, 2008 - Finalist Poetry, United States

Kirkus Book Review Stars, June 15, 2008

Notable Children's Books, 2009 - ALSC American Library Association, United States

SUGGESTED ACTIVITY

Skin Deep

"Beauty's only skin deep"

What did Grandma see

When she first looked in a mirror?

"Dear Heart," she says, "I gave you my soul,

              in whatever color you're wearing now."

Is skin a dress

That's put on and changed

From life to life?

"You remind me of my mother

A long, long time ago," she says,

              studying my beauty mark,

Her wrinkled hand holding my chin

"Put yourself in someone else's skin"

And I look into my own hazel eyes in the mirror

And see those sweet old folks at the age I am now

My great-grandma's raspberry color

My grandma's blackberry cheeks

And my mama's mulberry mouth

Activity: Read the poem with your class. Discuss with the students their own traits that make them unique. Encourage them to go home and find out about their families to learn who has traits similar to their own. Following this, have the students create a poster, either by drawing a self-portrait or including a photograph, of themselves. On the poster they can describe their special looks and write about other family members who share similar traits.

The Blacker the Berry. cover illustration. Internet on-line.  Retrieved January 26, 2013 from http://www.flr.follett.com/cover?FLR=02831MX&SID=2160bfdc47608afa071c6a2f50ced8b1&type=cover