Exquisite: The Poetry and Life of Gwendolyn Brooks - Biography & Literary Works - Perfect for Poetry Lovers and Book Clubs

“Her family owned great treasure – a bookcase filled with precious poems,” writes Slade on the opening spread of the book. Well this book is now one of the treasures on our bookcase. But often I can’t find it there, for it’s with my 11-year-old daughter somewhere around the house and she’s yet again pouring over the stunning images of Gwendolyn Brooks. Here Gwendolyn is writing poems, so numerous her room becomes “a swelling sea of poems.” Or here she is again “hungry for words” writing in one position after another, kneeling, slumping against a wall, always with pencil in hand. Slade’s story is spare and yet still rich, dipping now and then into moments of rhyme that gives the whole text an appropriately poetic feel. Cabrera’s images are tender, intimate, as if she’s right there with Brooks, kneeling over a notebook, feeling her hand in her mother’s hand as they pray around the table, reading an acceptance letter under a glowing bulb. But her paintings are equally lavish, illuminating the world around Brooks with a visual poetry, swaths of color, intricate pattern, small details gathered up like “elegant jewels” as Slade would say. For both the art and the story, this book is one of the best picture book biographies I’ve ever read.