Hope is an arrow : the story of Lebanese American poet Kahlil Gibran

Title:

Author:

Summary:

Before Kahlil Gibran became the world’s third-best-selling poet of all time, he was Gibran Khalil Gibran, an immigrant child from Lebanon with a secret hope to bring people together despite their many differences. Kahlil’s life highlights the turn of the twentieth century, from the religious conflicts that tore apart his homeland and sent a hundred thousand Arab people to America, to settling in Boston, where the wealthy clashed headlong with the poor. Throughout it all, Kahlil held on to his secret hope, even as his identity grew roots on both sides of the Atlantic. How could he be both Kahlil Gibran, Arab American, and Gibran Khalil Gibran, the Lebanese boy who longed for the mountains of his homeland? Kahlil found the answer in art and poetry. He wrote The Prophet, an arrow of hope as strong as the great cedars of Lebanon and feathered by the spirit of American independence. More than a hundred years later, his words still fly around the world in many languages, bringing people together. -- Amazon.

Edition:

First edition.

Physical Description:

1 volume (unpaged) : color illustrations ; 30 cm

Genre:

Creative nonfiction.

Picture books.

Personal Subject:

Gibran, Kahlil, 1883-1931-Juvenile literature.

Subject Term:

Poets -- Juvenile literature.

Emigration and immigration -- Juvenile literature.

Children of immigrants -- Juvenile literature.

Author(s):

Holmes, Ekua,

Publisher:

Candlewick Press,

Publication Date:

2022

ISBN:

9781536200324

Publication Information:

Somerville, Massachusetts : Candlewick Press, 2022.

Call Number:

P MCCARTHY

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607003627257	New Picture Books	MCCARTHY	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

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On Order

Summary

A lyrical biography of Kahlil Gibran by award-winning writer Cory McCarthy, with glorious illustrations by Caldecott Honoree and two-time Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award winner Ekua Holmes.

Before Kahlil Gibran became the world's third-best-selling poet of all time, he was Gibran Khalil Gibran, an immigrant child from Lebanon with a secret hope to bring people together despite their many differences. Kahlil's life highlights the turn of the twentieth century, from the religious conflicts that tore apart his homeland and sent a hundred thousand Arab people to America, to settling in Boston, where the wealthy clashed headlong with the poor. Throughout it all, Kahlil held on to his secret hope, even as his identity grew roots on both sides of the Atlantic. How could he be both Kahlil Gibran, Arab American, and Gibran Khalil Gibran, the Lebanese boy who longed for the mountains of his homeland? Kahlil found the answer in art and poetry. He wrote The Prophet , an arrow of hope as strong as the great cedars of Lebanon and feathered by the spirit of American independence. More than a hundred years later, his words still fly around the world in many languages, bringing people together.

Author Notes

Cory McCarthy writes books for children and young adults, including Man o' War , a Stonewall Honor Book; Breaking Sky , which was optioned by Sony Pictures; and the verse novel Name Me America , which won the middle-grade category of the 2014 Katherine Paterson Prize. They hold a degree in creative writing from Ohio University and an MFA in writing for children and young adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Like Kahlil Gibran, their family emigrated from Lebanon and settled in New England. Cory McCarthy lives in Vermont with their family and is on the faculty at Vermont College of Fine Arts.

Ekua Holmes is the illustrator of numerous books for children, including Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement by Carole Boston Weatherford, for which she received several awards, including a Caldecott Honor, the John Steptoe New Talent Illustrator Award, and a Boston Globe - Horn Book Honor; Out of Wonder: Poems Celebrating Poets by Kwame Alexander, Chris Colderley, and Marjory Wentworth, for which she received the 2018 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award; and The Stuff of Stars by Marion Dane Bauer, for which she received the 2019 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award. Ekua Holmes lives in Boston.

Reviews (2)

School Library Journal Review

K-Gr 4--This poignant, brilliant biography about Gibran Kahlil Gibran (The Prophet), a Lebanese and American poet and artist of international renown, creates a beautiful space for Gibran to live on for this generation. Bursting with brilliant collage and acrylic artwork and incorporating Gibran's own poetry during stirring moments of crisis and reflection, McCarthy and Holmes develop a picture book steeped in facts, artistically bold and texturally captivating, while also connecting to relatable social-emotional issues. Framed around Gibran's hope for humanity to find peace, McCarthy's rich prose follows Gibran's life as a child, from Lebanon to the United States, to his further journeys abroad. Most significant is when he loses part of his Maronite identity as a child, when "Gibran" is taken from the first part of his name in Boston. He soon discovers expression through art, and it's a defining moment in his life. In each place he lives, Gibran observes or suffers intolerance, unkindness, and a lack of understanding amongst disparate cultures. This, along with his initial hope as a child, fuels his art and identity. McCarthy's inclusion of similes and lyricism further connects ideas of Americanization, immigration, cultural identity, socioeconomic background, and religious intolerance to contemporary society. Extensive back matter provides further biographical information and references. VERDICT A first purchase for all libraries serving children, this is a stunning biography.--Rachel Zuffa

Publisher's Weekly Review

This striking biography of Khalil Gibran (1883--1931) portrays the poet as a sensitive boy long torn between two countries. The book is founded on an image from Gibran's 1923 classic, The Prophet: of children described as the arrows shot from the bow that is their parents. McCarthy weaves the simile of "a boy shot from a bow like an arrow" throughout, portraying Gibran as a child with "a secret hope" of connecting people through love and understanding. Violent clashes in Lebanon deeply trouble young Gibran, and drive his Maronite family to the U.S. where, in Boston, "people spit at his family's differences." There, Gibran begins to express himself through art, and travels between the two countries result in early writings and eventual success. Holmes's bold, color-saturated collages and acrylics are a stirring match for McCarthy's poetic prose--the family sails across "the deeper, darker Atlantic Ocean, which murmured like a giant in its sleep"--in a telling that emphasizes the figure's complexity. Extensive back matter expands on Gibran's life story. Ages 6--9. (June)