Book Review: Little Stevie Wonder by Quincy Troupe

Bibliographic Citation:

Troupe, Quincy. 2005. Little Stevie Wonder. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN: 0618340602. 

Review:

Isn't he lovely, this blind black boy born to love everyone? 

Stevie Wonder's hit song, "Isn't She Lovely" will be ringing in your ears after you read this biographical poetry book about Stevie Wonder. Troupe does a great job creating a kid friendly biography that has rhythm. It's almost next to impossible to not sing the words in this book. The book starts with the beginning of Stevie's life and how he grew up to be a famous singer. It doesn't touch on his personal life as much as his professional life, which I think some kids might be disappointed at this. There is a chronology at the end of the book that is helpful for the reader to see when important events have happened in his life and in what order. Troupe also included a select discography to show the reader the year of Stevie Wonder's albums. 

Troupe's free verse poetry has great rhythm and each page starts with the same famous line, "Oh, isn't he lovely". The length of each poem varies from 1 to 4 stanzas in length.Troupe's words flow across the page and the placement of words on the page really grab the readers attention. Troupe bolded and enlarged several words throughout, that highlight his main ideas. This is very helpful for young readers and is a great way to get the author's point across.  Lisa Cohen illustrations are bright and vibrant and accurately describe Stevie's feelings. 

This would be a great book to share during Black History Month and in Music class! This book is a hit!

Spotlight Poem:

Isn't he lovely,
Stevland Judkins Morris Hardaway,
"Little Stevie Wonderland,"
Now Stevie Wonder?

Oh, isn't he lovely,
this luminous wonder of a man?
A sequoia tree of a man,
a rainbow of song,
born to love everyone!

Activity: 

As mentioned above, I think this would be a great book to share during Black History Month and in a music class. Classroom teachers could also use this when discussing the biography genre. "Little Stevie Wonder" is a different format from normal biographies, and would be a great way to open students up to poetry as well. 

A fun activity to go along with this book, would be to have students do research on a famous African American. Students can then create a biographical poem about that person. Once students have created their poem, they can turn it into a animoto or podcast to share with the class.