Soul Looks Back in Wonder by Tom Feelings

Soul Looks Back in Wonder

(Puffin -1999)

By: Tom Feelings

Grade: 4-6

Soul Looks Back in Wonder is a collection of poems by 13 different poets that celebrates the African heritage of strength and endurance, beauty and love, knowledge and creativity. The art really helps paint a picture in our minds and really helps us to feel true emotions for these people. It is a great book to use to talk about diversity and embracing differences.

Theme/Skills Taught: Strength and endurance, beauty and love, knowledge and creativity/

About the Author: A native of Brooklyn, New York, Feelings attended the school of Visual Arts for two years and then joined the Air Force in 1953, working in London as a staff artist for the Graphics Division of the Third Air Force. From 1959 until 1964 he worked as a freelance artist, his primary subjects drawn from the Black people of his community. In 1961, he went south to draw the people of Black rural communities: some of these drawings were published in Look magazine as part of a feature entitled "The Negro in the U.S." In 1964, Feelings traveled to Ghana, where he spent two years. In 1966, he returned to the United States to concentrate on illustrating books with African and African-American themes. Feelings lived in Guyana, South America, working as a teacher and consultant for the Ministry of Education, and training young artists in textbook illustration. Feelings received numerous awards for his illustrations. His life experiences and people he has met helped him to become the successful writer and illustrator that he was. About TomFeelings

Pre-Reading Activities: Read the Intro and pose a discussion: What do you think are some rites of passage in this culture? What does it mean to be hostile? How can someone be creative? By discussing the different culture, it will get students ready to read about groups of people who may or may not be similar to them.

Post Reading Activities: This book can be coupled with lessons on slavery and what it took for these individuals to stand up for themselves. Have the students create their own poem that shows their stance on a topic. Give them ideas or themes to start from.