Poetry: My Man Blue

Bibliography
Grimes, Nikki. 1999. MY MAN BLUE. Ill. Jerome Lagarrigue. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers. ISBN 978-0142301975.

Plot Summary
In this poetry picture book Damon meets an old friend of his mother’s, Blue, whom he quickly informs, “…in this family I’m the only man of the house.” Blue earns Damon’s respect by showing him respect. Blue has lost his son to the streets and does his best to protect Damon. Damon learns how to be a real man: taking care of his mother, standing up to bullies in a non violent way, and not being afraid to show he cares. In the end, Blue has become the man Damon looks up to and aspires to emulate.

Critical Analysis
Nikki Grimes does a fantastic job of telling a story through 14 linked poems. Each one can stand on its own merit, but works in conjunction with the rest to tell the story of how Damon came to love Blue.

Each poem has its own rhyme scheme and rhythm giving the story some variation for page to page. The first poem, My Man Blue has an ABAB rhyme scheme giving the poem a sing-song quality: “His leathery skin’s /Like indigo ink/This rugged dude/Who some folk think” has an ABAB rhyme scheme giving the poem a sing-song quality where as Like Blue has no rhyme scheme but still flows beautifully from line to line: “One day/I’ll be like Blue/Not Fierce/In black leather/Or built like/A heavyweight/Boxing machine/But like that/Other Blue I’ve seen/…”

Grimes’ poetry is full of imagery bringing each poem to a life of its own. In Fearless, Blue urges Damon to “loop/My fear like twine/Around a branch and use/The rope to climb” creating a interesting visual of using fear to climb out of a bad situation. In His Hands, Damon describes Blues hands as “a rough sculpture of thick fingers/” leading the reader to think of a person who has used his hands for hard, physical labor.

The illustrator, Jerome Lagarrigue, paints a beautiful story with bold, but muted, colors and broad brush strokes. His pictures add an element of depth to the poems. Although the poems illustrate the deep feelings Blue has, the illustrations enhance the sadness behind Blue’s eyes and the desire to do better by Damon than he did for his own son.

While your heart breaks for the loss of Blue’s son and the fatherless Damon, it also finds hope and warmth in knowing they help each other through their losses and become better men for it on the other side.

Awards Won And Reviewed Excerpt(s)
A Booklist Editor's Choice
Newsweek Best Children's Picture Books of the Year
Society of School Librarians International Honor Book
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY review: “…heartfelt poems…” and “The art creates an ideal setting for the text…”
Kirkus REVIEWS review: “…gets across more subtle life lessons…”
Starred review in BOOKLIST: “A great picture book for older readers.”

Connections
* Can lead a discussion on judging people before getting to know them and/or on what they look like on the outside.
*Other poetry books about family:
Hopkins, Lee Bennet. BEEN TO YESTERDAYS. ISBN 978-1563978081
Johnson, Angela. DADDY CALLS ME MAN. ISBN 978-0531071755