Golden Slippers: An Anthology of Negro Poetry for Young Readers

by Arna Bontemps

A book about negro poetry for young readers.

Genres: Poetry

Hardcover

First published June 1, 1941

About the author

Works of poetry, history, and fiction, such as God Sends Sunday (1931) and Black Thunder (1936), established American writer Arna Wendell Bontemps as a leading figure of the renaissance of Harlem.

People note Arnaud Wendell Bontemps, an African novelist and librarian, as a member.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arna_Bo...

Reviews

[Woods · Rating 5 out of 5]

Compiled by Arna Bontemps. Golden Slippers: An Anthology of Negro Poetry for Young Readers. Harper & Row Publishers, New York. 1941
I came across this book in our library and really wanted to read through it. It is such a cultural treasure and I found it to be a wonderful read. I believe this book is intended for children from about 5 to 9 or 10 years old, but I think it could easily be read by children up to 12, or even later depending on what you want to do with it.
The poems are divided into sections in the book under titles such as Waking UP, Playtime, Hard Work, Brown Boy and Girl, Dressed Up, North and South, and others. Each of these sections has between five and twelve poems, with six or seven being the average. Most of the poems you have probably never heard, but there are a few that may be familiar, like John Henry or Ma Lord. The poems also cover a very wide range of topics from working the fields to spending a night out on the town to sadness to lullaby, and many many other topics.
A couple of notes about his book. First, it is not politically correct. The title itself says it's about "Negro Poetry" and many of the words and images in the poems would not be politically correct by today's standards. But it is culturally and historically relevant to a time when things were different for African-Americans in this country and the country itself was different. Second, the poems are not clearly placed in time. Some of the poems really seem like they are from African slaves (Oh, how much he felt de blow, As he watched dem face fall lo, When dem wait an' nuttin' came, An' drew back deir han's wid shame!), while others are about building roads for automobiles, or talking on the telephone (Hello, Central, what's the matter with this line? I want to talk to that high Brown of mine, Tell me, How long will I have to wait? Please give me 298. Why do you hesitate?). So the poems run a whole range of time frames, but there are not dates on them. They, however, attributed when it is known who wrote the poem.
I think this would probably need to be used or talked about with some guidance and context to today's younger children. Also, it would seem to me that children of the 1940's had a much wider range of vocabulary and reading ability than younger children today based on this book. There is a lot that would need explaining, but I think there are some poems that could be fun for a class, or historically or culturally useful depending on the topic of study, or as a reading for Black History Month, or something like this.
Overall it is a really interesting and fun read.

[Djackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book for poetry on the back shelf of my middle school library and read it several in the subsequent years. Unfortunately, I have forgotten about it until recently. It has been added to my reread list. I want to see if it has the same impact on a 35 year old woman as it did on a 12 year old girl.

[Margaret Carpenter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked it up because it had several poems by Langston Hughes, my favorite poet. I as introduced to many more wonderful writers, some of whom I will definitely be reading more of.