Paul Laurence Dunbar

School Library Journal

Gr 5 Up-- The life of a man once dubbed ``the poet laureate of the Negro People.'' The son of two former slaves, Dunbar wrote lyrical poems both in standard English and in black dialect which gave voice to black experiences. Gentry weaves together the details of Dunbar's personal life with his literary accomplishments, often providing excerpts of his work to demonstrate Dunbar's thinking. In a clear style, Gentry emphasizes that Dunbar struggled not only for literary success but also for social equality. This chronicle is informative, and the succinct presentation provides a well-drawn picture of Dunbar's life as well as an outline of his work. The liberally supplied black-and-white photographs and illustrations add to the text and give readers a sense of the era. This would be useful for reports for a slightly older audience than for Patricia McKissack's Paul Laurence Dunbar: a Poet to Remember (Childrens, 1984). --Susan Fichtelberg, Woodbridge Public Library, N . J .