“My little dark baby, / My little earth-thing, / My little love-one, / What shall I sing / For your lullaby?" With a few simple words as smooth as a song, the poet Langston Hughes celebrates the love between an African American mother and her baby. The award-winning illustrator Sean Qualls’s painted and collaged artwork captures universally powerful maternal moments with tenderness and whimsy. In the end, readers will find a rare photo of baby Hughes and his mother, a biographical note, further reading, and the complete lullaby. Like little love-ones, this beautiful book is a treasure.

Langston Hughes penned many well-known poems, such as The Negro Speaks of Rivers, I, Too, Sing America, and The Dream Keeper. A renowned contributor to New York City's Harlem Renaissance, he died in 1967.

• Publisher: Clarion Books (September 28, 2021)
• Language: English
• Board book: 20 pages
• ISBN-10: 0358566150
• ISBN-13: 9780358566151
• Reading age: 3 - 5 years
• Item Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Dimensions: 6.75 x 0.49 x 7.5 inches