Here is an innovative exploration of the blues aesthetic that reflects the literary work created by Black authors and illustrators for the Black child reader. This book examines literature written for Black children, using critical and creative writings - by artists, scholars, and critics - that define the blues within Black «adult» literature, poetry, and the visual arts. The book identifies Black children's literature published in the past forty years by authors and illustrators who can be classified as blues artists, and whose work reflects social, political, economical, and historical developments of the Black experience throughout the United States. Referencing work created by Jacqueline Woodson, Walter Dean Myers, John Steptoe, Tom Feelings, Sherley Anne Williams, and others, this book demonstrates how the blues aesthetic now includes the literature dedicated to Black children. List of Illustrations vii Acknowledgments ix Introduction: The Blues Understood 1(6) Living the Blues 7(2) Defining the Blues 9(2) The Blues Aesthetic within Black Children's Literature 11(1) The Blues of the Black Child 12(1) Blues Chapters 13(4) Youthful Blues 17(18) The Blues Aesthetic 28(3) The Art of the Blues 31(4) A Blues Collection 35(24) Stylization of Process 38(3) The Deliberate Use of Exaggeration 41(4) Brutal Honesty Clothed in Metaphorical Grace 45(2) Acceptance of the Contradictory Nature of Life 47(5) An Optimistic Faith in the Ultimate Triumph of Justice 52(3) Celebration of the Sensual and Erotic 55(4) Children at the Junction 59(20) Owning the Image on the Page 61(6) Making Somethin' out of Nothin' 67(6) Old Tracks, New Blues 73(6) Blues Poetry 79(14) Feeling the Poetry through Imagery 84(4) Daddy Blues 88(5) A Blues Ending 93(10) A Blues Lens 95(3) The Literature Used 98(5) Bibliography 103(10) Index 113