Great Hip Hop Speaks to Children News!

I'm happy to say that Hip Hop Speaks for Children (the Nikki Giovanni book/CD that includes my song Long Track Blues) spent its 5th week on the New York Times Bestseller list for picture books last week!

And, I found out from A Year of Reading that it has been named one of the 2009 Notable Children's Books in the Language Arts. You can see the whole list here.

I'm hoping teachers and parents will use this book as a resource during Poetry Month, too.

Here's a short video biography of Sterling A. Brown, the author of the poem "Long Track Blues":

UPDATE: Hip Hop Speaks to Children on All Things Considered

One of my student's parents just called to see if I was listening to All Things Considered. When I said no, he blurted, "Turn it on, turn it on, turn it on!"

Not only was there a cool interview with Nikki Giovanni, they also played *my* song. I'm having take-out pizza to celebrate. :)

More on Hip Hop Speaks to Children

Three more cool links to reviews of Hip Hop Speaks to Children:

1. Todd Stocke from Sourcebooks was kind enough to send me a link to this NPR interview with Nikki Giovanni, since there's a brief mention of my song about 5 minutes in. Thanks, Todd!

2. The esteemed Fuse # 8 posted her review of the book at School Library Journal on Friday. Her verdict?

This is a great collection, woven together by an expert, and crafted with the best possible accompanying CD. Purchase of this book isn’t optional. It’s obligatory.

3. Diane Chen at Practically Paradise (also at SLJ) describes what happened when she brought the book to a faculty meeting at her school.

Nikki Giovanni: Hip Hop Speaks to Children

I'm excited to announce that Nikki Giovanni's brand new book, Hip Hop Speaks to Children is on its way to stores near you (and is already available at Amazon). And guess what? The accompanying CD includes my musical version of Sterling A Brown's poem, Long Track Blues. How cool is that?

Hip Hop Speaks to Children is "a celebration of poetry with a beat." It includes work by Langston Hughes, Gwendolyn Brooks, The Sugar Hill Gang, Lauryn Hill, and dozens of other poets and musicians.

I've already seen a couple nice reviews online, and of course, I was pleasantly surprised to stumble across this little tidbit from Biblio File:

"The hamboning version of "The Pool players" and Josephine Cameron's sung version of Sterling Brown's "Long Track Blues" are tracks I can listen to over and over again."

Other hot-off-the-presses blog reviews can be found at:
Becky's Book Reviews
Publisher's Weekly
School Library Journal

Here's a cool video of Nikki Giovanni introducing the book. You'll get a great glimpse into some of the stellar illustrations by Kristen Balouch, Michele Noiset, Jeremy Tugeau, Alicia Vergel de Dios, and Damian Ward.