Arnold Adoff

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Arnold Adoff (born July 16, 1935 in Bronx, New York) is a poet and anthologist. He has published more than 30 books, which have won numerous awards. In 1988, the National Council of Teachers of English gave Adoff the Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children. He has said, "I will always try to turn sights and sounds into words. I will always try to shape words into my singing poems."

Adoff grew up in the South Bronx, the son of immigrants from a town near the Polish-Russian border. He enrolled in the Columbia University School of Pharmacy but transferred to City College of New York where he received a B.A. in history and literature. He married Virginia Hamilton in 1960 and they lived in Europe briefly before moving back to New York City. Adoff taught social studies in Harlem and the Upper West Side of New York. Adoff and Hamilton eventually moved to Yellow Springs, Ohio, where Adoff still lives.

"I began writing for kids because I wanted to effect a change in American society. I continue in that spirit. By the time we reach adulthood, we are closed and set in our attitudes. The chances of a poet reaching us are very slim. But I can open a child's imagination, develop his appetite for poetry, and more importantly, show him that poetry is a natural part of everyday life. We all need someone to point out that the emperor is wearing no clothes. That's the poet's job." --Arnold Adoff

1 Books Edited or Compiled by Adoff
2 Poetry by Adoff
3 Fiction
4 Nonfiction
5 External links

[edit] Books Edited or Compiled by Adoff

Celebrations: A New Anthology of Black American Poetry. Chicago: Follett, 1977. (Thematically arranged contributions of eighty-five Afro-American poets.)
I Am the Darker Brother. Drawings by Benny Andrews. Rev. ed. New York: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, 1997; New York: Macmillan, 1968. (New edition includes 21 new poems and 19 additional poets. Earlier edition includes poems on aspects of race or racial problems by well-known African American poets, including Countee Cullen, Richard Wright, Leroi Jones, Langston Hughes and James Weldon Johnson.)
Black Out Loud; An Anthology of Modern Poems by Black Americans. Drawings by Alvin Hollingsworth. New York: Macmillan, 1970. (A collection of poetry by twentieth-century black Americans expressing what it is like to be black in the United States. Includes capsule biographies of the poets.)
City in All Directions; An Anthology of Modern Poems. Drawings by Donald Carrick. New York: Macmillan, 1969. (An anthology of poems celebrating city life around the world. Children's poetry)
It Is the Poem Singing Into Your Eyes; Anthology of New Young Poets. 1st ed. New York: Harper & Row, 1971.
My Black Me: A Beginning Book of Black Poetry. pa. Penguin Putnam, 1995; New York: Dutton, 1974. (A compilation of poems reflecting thoughts on being black by such authors as Langston Hughes, Lucille Clifton, Nikki Giovanni, and Imamu Amiri Baraka.)
The Poetry of Black America; Anthology of the 20th Century. 1st ed. New York: Harper & Row, 1973.

[edit] Poetry by Adoff

All the Colors of the Race: Poems. Illustrated by John Steptoe. 1st ed. New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, 1982. (A collection of poems written from the point of view of a child with a black mother and a white father. Children's poetry.)
The Basket Counts. Illustrated by Michael Weaver. 1st ed. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2000. (Illustrations and poetic text describe the movement and feel of the game of basketball. Children's poetry.)
Big Sister Tells Me That I Am Black. Illustrated by Lorenzo Lynch. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1976.
Birds: Poems. Illustrated by Troy Howell. 1st ed. New York: Lippincott, 1982.
The Cabbages Are Chasing the Rabbits. Illustrated by Janet Stevens. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1985.
Chocolate Dreams: Poems. Illustrated by Turi MacCombie. 1st ed. New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, 1989.
Eats; Poems. Illustrated by Susan Russo. 1st ed. New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, 1979.
Friend Dog. Pictures by Troy Howell. 1st ed. New York: Lippincott, 1980.
Greens: Poems. Illustrated by Betsy Lewin. 1st ed. New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, 1988.
I Am the Running Girl. Pictures by Ronald Himler. 1st ed. New York: Harper & Row, 1979.
Eats; Poems. Illustrated by Susan Russo. 1st ed. New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, 1979.
Friend Dog. Pictures by Troy Howell. 1st ed. New York: Lippincott, 1980.
Greens: Poems. Illustrated by Betsy Lewin. 1st ed. New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, 1988.
I Am the Running Girl. Pictures by Ronald Himler. 1st ed. New York: Harper & Row, 1979.
Love Letters. Illustrated by Lisa Desimini. 1st ed.
OUTside INside Poems. Illustrated by John Steptoe. pa. 1st ed. Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, 1995, 1981.
Slow Dance Heart Break Blues. With artwork by William Cotton. 1st ed. New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, 1995. (Young adult collection.) (Winner of American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults Citation and "Riverbank Review" Children's Book of Distinction)
Sports Pages. Illustrations by Steve Kuzma. 1st ed. New York: J.B. Lippincott, 1986. (Poems about the experiences and feelings of young athletes involved in various sports.)
Street Music: City Poems. Illustrated by Karen Barbour. 1st ed. New York: HarperCollins, 1995. (Fifteen poems explore the sights and sounds of life in a big city. Ages 5 to 9) (winner of American Library Association Notable Citation)
Today We Are Brother and Sister. Illustrated by Glo Coalson. 1st ed. New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, 1981. (Poems focusing on a day in the life of a brother and sister, spent at the beach, sometimes argumentatively, mostly compatibly.)
Tornado! Poems. Illustrated by Ronald Himler. New York: Delacorte, 1977. (A poetic description of the Xenia, Ohio tornado and its aftermath.)
Touch the Poem. Illustrated by Lisa Desimini. New York: Blue Sky Press, 2000. (A collection of poems about the sense of touch including a baby's foot in one's palm, peach fuzz on the lip, and the forehead against a cold window.)
Under the Early Morning Trees: Poems. Illustrated by Ronald Himler. 1st ed. New York: Dutton, 1978.
Where Wild Willie. Pictures by Emily Arnold McCully. 1st ed. New York: Harper & Row, 1978.

[edit] Fiction

Black Is Brown Is Tan. Pictures by Emily Arnold McCully. New York: HarperCollins, 2002; 1st ed. New York: Harper & Row, 1973; New York: HarperCollins, 2002.
Daring Dog and Captain Cat. Illustrated by Joe Cepada. 1st ed. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2001. (Although they are normal and obedient pets during the day, at night Irving Dog and Ermine Cat rise and shake and roam as Daring Dog and Captain Cat, twirling capes and flashing swords and chasing crooks. Easy reader.)
Flamboyan; Story. Pictures by Karen Barbour. 1st ed. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1988. (One sunny afternoon while everyone is resting, Flamboyan, a young girl named after the tree whose red blossoms are the same color as her hair, dreamily flies over her Caribbean island home. Easy reader.)
Hard to Be Six. Illustrated by Cheryl Hanna. New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, 1991. (A six-year-old boy who wants to grow up fast learns a lesson about patience from his grandmother. Easy reader.)
Ma nda la. Pictures by Emily McCully. 1st ed. New York: Haprer & Row, 1971. (The sounds MA, DA, LA, HA, RA, NA, and AH (representing respectively mother, father, singing, laughing, cheering, sighing, and contentment) form a chant celebrating an African family's cultivation and harvest of a corn crop.)
The Return of Rex and Ethel. Illustrated by Catherine Deeter. 1st ed. San Diego: Harcourt, 2000. (Two girls who share many wonderful times with their beloved dogs, Rex and Ethel, find a special way to remember them when they die.)

[edit] Nonfiction

Black on Black; Commentaries by Negro Americans. New York: Macmillan, 1968.
Brothers and Sisters; Modern Stories by Black Americans. New York: Macmillan, 1970.
Malcolm X. Illustrated by Rudy Gutierrez. pa. HarperCollins, 2000. (ages 7-10) (winner of ALA Notable Children’s Book and Library of Congress Children’s Books)