MEET DANITRA BROWN
by Nikki Grimes & illustrated by Floyd Cooper
In a lively cycle of 13 poems by the author of Somethin' on My Mind (1978), Zuri Jackson celebrates her vibrant best friend Danitra: "the most splendiferous girl in town...She's not afraid to take a dare. / If something's hard, she doesn't care. / She'll try her best, no matter what."
Danitra shares work, play, and confidences with equal verve, knows how to defuse a mean tease or comfort a friend, and loves to wear purple. In expansive double spreads, Cooper visualizes the girls' city neighborhood in glowing impressionistic pastels while focusing on subtly modeled close-ups of them in their many moods.
The joyous portrayal will appeal to a broad age range (the friends are depicted as 10 or 12 years old); older readers may enjoy going on to Jean Little's equally upbeat portrait of Kate Bloomfield, Hey World, Her I Am! (1989).
(Poetry/Picture book. 5-11)