This a a book that has works by Langston Hughes that perhaps your pat Black History month or American Literature classes never mentioned. Excellent work by a brilliant author.

Meet James Langston Hughes in a unique and entertaining biography that brings this great poet of the Harlem Renaissance to life. Written in free verse, Tony Medina's fourteen poems follow Langston from his boyhood in Kansas marked by racism and poverty, to his trips to Africa and around the world, and finally to life in his beloved Harlem..."Harlem is the capital of my world/black and beautiful and bruised/like me..." Mr Medina's simple, yet powerful poems speak volumes, and are full of energy, rhythm, wisdom, and truth. "In Topeka, Kansas/the teacher makes me sit/in the corner/in the last row/far away from/the other kids// She rolls her eyes/and sucks her teeth/with heavy heavy sighs/and lies and lies// She tells one kid/not to eat licorice/or he'll turn black/like me// When Mama finds out/she takes me out of school/she rolls her eyes/and sucks her teeth/with heavy heavy sighs// And why why why" R. Gregory Christie's expressive, bold, and riveting illustrations complement each poem beautifully, and draw the reader into the world Langston Hughes loved and remembered. Together word and art present an engaging and evocative tribute to a remarkable and vibrant man who loved people, books, and jazz. This is much more than a creative and innovative biography, it's a labor of love. Perfect for youngsters 7 and older, Mr Medina includes notes, details, and insight to help flesh out, complete, and enrich these original poems about Langston Hughes' life, and introduce Hughes and his work to a whole new generation. This engaging biography is sure to whet the appetite of both young and old alike, and send you out looking for more. So come celebrate the life of Langston Hughes on what would have been his one hundredth birthday... "Sometimes life ain't/always a hoot/or a holler// But if you manage/to give it/a bother// Even if you miss/your mother/or don't like your father// There'll be better days/up ahead// A whole mess of/happenin' days/up ahead// You can sit and sulk/suck your teeth/and sigh// Or love and laugh/and live life/by and by"

Langston Hughes "The Negro Mother" is terffic. He has out done his self on this particular display of art.Mr Hughes is a excellent writer,and a pure perfectionist.

Collected Works Of Langston Hughes V. 4 is a college-level critical examination presenting Hughes' novels Not Without Laughter and Tambourines To Glory, and is recommended reading for any studying the body of Hughes' works. Dolan Hubbard edits these two short novels, which are recommended reading for any in-depth study of Hughes' achievements.

Everyman's Library of Pocket Poets presents an accessible collection of Langston Hughes' poems right before our finger tips. Culled from Hughes', "The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes", you are able to read and reflect upon some of the best of Hughes' work during a fifty year period.

Whether he's writing in the jazz or blues idiom, your soul will be touched by the magnificence of one of America's great poets. Some of his memorable poems are at your service. Deal with "The Weary Blues". Laugh at his critique in "To Certain Negro Leaders" and meditate on "The Negro Speaks of Rivers". Hughes will reach you intellectually and emotionally with his work.

I enjoyed this volume because of the poet, the format of the book (it is easy to carry around) and the broad range of poems it contains. It is indeed a pocket full of inspiration that you need to have and share with others.

Hughes really takes advantage of his natural African-American 'relaxed & jazzy' instincts in these works. Enjoy

The life of poverty and discrimination is all about Simple, the character in Simple's Uncle Sam. He goes through everything and tells about it in his short stories. From his ideas for a Negro President to his ideas for an ugly contest instead of a beauty contest, this man's mind comes alive with explicit detail, description, and opinion.

This collaborative book between Hughes and De Carava is small and wonderful. The story by Hughes is a gentle tale of one woman's life in Harlem in 1955. It is richly illustrated with the beautiful photographs of Harlem family life by De Carava.

I love this book. Simple reminds me of all the men I know where there is that thin line of love and hate but you just can't help but love them and their wit. For anyone who needs a few good laughs and enjoys Langston Hughes you won't be dissapointed because Mr. Hughes truly does it all!

This is one of my favorite Langston Hughes books. His character Simple reminds me of one of my friends. Always bumming money for his vises and having women problems seems to be Simple's lot in life which he bears with hilarious results. Langston Hughes is funny as his put upon friend dealing with Simple's strange but oddly common sense philosphies about just about everything from feet to cops to women. This book is worth reading if for no other reason than that you will find that one of your friends is Simple in disguise.

Many people praise the poetry of Langston Hughes, but I believe that his prose is just as relevant in regards to social criticism, and as magnificent in form. Reading Simple's tall tales, and his anecdotes as he experienced Harlem reminded me of the stories my Grandparents told of how Chicago was during the great Northern Migration. This collection is a wonderful introduction to Jesse B. Simple

I thought that the story was realy nice.The charater had many changes to overcome. I like the way he through out his belongings, and started all over. He also was smart after releasing his emosions into the way to Africa.

I enjoyed this book. It is mostly good exept for the begigging. When he started talking about his family was the boring part. The book i good so i recommend it to the readers. It got my attention and i usaully dont read unless it gets my attention. All in all it was a good book.

This book had a profound effect my life as a writer.My mother read it to me at night like fairy tales when I was very young. As I grew up and realized I wanted to write professionally, the lessons in The Big Sea made the writing life seem not only possible, but the best life a person could find. I would say without a doubt that this is my favorite book of all time. If I was marooned on a desert island, this would be the book I would take with me. From his base in Harlem, it shows Hughes embracing the whole world. The Big Sea is a book to read and treasure. again and again.