Picture Book #20 - Coretta Scott King Award

Title:  Uptown

Author:  Bryan Collier

Illustrator: Bryan Collier

Genre:  Youth Fiction 

Subgenre:   Modern Fantasy Fiction

Themes:  Harlem, NY, city life, African Americans, being aware of your surroundings

Primary and Secondary Characters: boy (narrator of the story), his grandfather, and girls walking on the street

Awards:  Coretta Scott King Award Winner 2001, Ezra Jack Keats Award 2001

Date of Publication:  2000

Publishing Company:  Henry Holt and Company

Summary:

A boy observes his city and neighborhood and compares them to similes and metaphors.  "Uptown is a caterpillar.  Well, it's really the Metro-North train as it eases over the Harlem River."  He enjoys to observe and think of them as things that he personally knows.  The illustrations within this book are phenomenal and they look like the objects that the little boys describes.  For instance, he says that when the apartments are lined up, they look like a bunch of chocolate bars, and that's exactly what the illustrations are showing, chocolate bars.  This book is a really easy read and describes what life really could be like to a child.  It almost shows Harlem from a realistic point of view and really lets you see what Harlem could be like if you planned a visit!  "Uptown is Harlem...Harlem world, my world."

How it will be used in the classroom:
This is such an inspirational book that really captures life within Harlem, and from a little boys perspective makes it all the worth more while to read!  This book has been recommended by Scholastic to be a pre-k through 3rd grade reading level.  This is also a great book to show immaculate illustrations.  It would be a great activity to have students make their own book describing what their neighborhood and city is like.