This is a collection of poems written from a child's point of view, about the different kids and families experiences on Neighborhood Street. The poems are about sleepy time on neighborhood street. Some of the poems have emotions of fear, joy, trust, and sadness as the kids wait for bedtime. This would be great book for younger children to read or be introduced to when it comes to reading poems. It has simple words, easy reading, and is easy to understand. Since the poems in Night on Neighborhood Street are mostly free verse, I would have students write a free verse poem. ( )

This is a book of poetry about a life on Neighborhood Street. There are some very sweet poems about children and babies. There are also some poems that are somewhat scary about packages of death and fighting. Some of the poems are happy and some are very sad.
The poems in this book really made me think about how life is really like in some towns. I have always lived in small town and led a sheltered life.
I am not sure I would read all the poems in my class. I would read the poems that I thought was appropriate for my class. Then I would discuss poetry in its different forms. Then I would have the class to work together to write a poem about our town and have them each draw a picture fo their neighborhood. ( )

This set of poetry is about life for a city dweller. It has been awarded the Coretta Scott King Award for appreciation of African American culture in literature. Poems like "The Seller" talk about drug dealers on city streets, but others, like "In The Church" give the reader a taste of ethnic culture.
I loved these poems. I could feel the emotion in each one. I knew that the scariness of the streets were touched and the joy of family was included. The order of the poems took me on a roller-coaster of emotions!
This book would be great in a city school. I think we could read the poems and discuss city life, or we could do an extension for Black History Month. Social skills could also be taught with this book.

In my opinion, this is a great book, but not for beginning readers. This book is a collection of poems that tell what goes on in an average night in an African American neighborhood. Some of the poems rhyme, and some do not. I really like her use of language in some of the poems. For example, “she said she wasn’t sleepy, she said it extra loud, she didn’t want to be carried, she wanted to be proud…She said she wasn’t a baby, she tried to say it right, but the words all ran together, and spilled into the night…” in that particular poem the author uses a rhyming pattern, and also uses descriptive language. There is a lot of imagery in the phrase, “the words all ran together, and spilled through the night.” My concern for this book is its mature content. One of the poems titled the seller is about drug sales on the street. The first few lines read, “when the seller comes around, carrying his many pockets, packages of death, all the children go inside..” I think that is too mature for a primary grade student to read. On the other hand, it does push the readers to broaden their perspectives. Selling drugs on street corners is considered a normal activity in some neighborhoods, and this gives the reader the opportunity to open their eyes a bit. The message of this story is that urban neighborhoods are one of a kind, and a lot of things—good and bad—take place.

Summary:

This was a book of poems that described everyday occurrences in a small African American neighborhood.

Personal Reaction:

Being that I’m African American and grew up in a similar neighborhood I could relate on a personal level with all the poems in this book.

Classroom Extension Ideas:

1. Have the children write poems about their neighborhood.
2. Have the children view the illustrations in the book and write what they see happening in the drawings.