"...take a note / and spin it around / on the Black loom / on the Black loom / careful baby / don't prick your finger...." There is comfort and warning in this strong and softly woven poem. Nikki Giovanni's imagery sends a powerful and moving message of strength and identity drawn from Black creativity. Chris Raschka's visual interpretation, rendered in oil sticks and watercolor on brown paper, shows a child enveloped in the loving, protective circle of Black community. Children can enter the music of the poem and be soothed by its cadence and sounds; but some, especially older readers, will also want to think about what the poet meant, and, more importantly, what the poem means to them. (Ages 5-10)

Nikki Giovanni spins her words into beautiful images of black songs and black looms, and inspires us all to trust our own hearts.