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Visiting Langston is the story of a young girl who goes to visit the house of Langston Hughes, coming away inspired
and brimming with poetry.
This picture book celebrates the poet Langston Hughes with its lyrical text and collage illustrations that have a lyricism
of their own. The text says "Langston / Langston / Langston Hughes / Wrote poems / like jazz / Sang like love / and
cried like blues."
Collage, mixed media, and watercolor illustrations bring life to the text. Collier incorporates images of
Hughs with images of words, language, jazz and Africa. Publisher's Weekly states that Collier's "heady blend of watercolor
and mixed media collage evokes the history of the writer's life and times" (Roback 2002). The young girl says Hughes
"could tell you what Africa means to me," which emphasizes the universal appeal of Hughes's poetry. Part of the illustration
for this portion of text is a large silvery moon with a purple heart of Africa enclosed inside of it. Though this young
girl has never been to Africa, she can feel the meaning through Hughes's poetry, and she comes to know the meaning of Africa
on her own.
Collier incorporates rich details that portray the spirit of the book, such as the line "Hold fast to dreams," a line
from Hughes's poetry, that floats through portions of illustrations like it was music. The young girl's journal
or notebook is closed at the beginning of the story but open after her visit to Hughes's house, as if to signify
her beginnings as a poet. There is also the final picture of Langston Hughes which faces a picture of poem titles.
Hughes holds a piece of paper out to the reader as if to say his poems are for all to read. Collier captures and expresses
each element of the text beautifully, making Visiting Langston a stunning tribute. This book serves as a nice introduction
to Langston Hughes for young readers, and it could also be paired with more substantial biographies on the poet. Reading
this book with pieces of poetry from Hughes would also serve as an excellent introduction to the poet.
Perdomo, Willie. Visiting Langston. Illus by Bryan Collier. New York: Henry Holt and
Co., 2002.
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