Life Doesn’t Frighten Me
by Maya Angelou, illustrated by Jean-Michel Basquiat
Edited by Sara Jane Boyers
Interest age: 7 to 12
Reading age: 9+
Published by Abrams, 2018
About this book
Maya Angelou’s seminal poem Life Doesn’t Frighten Me is published here in a special 25th-anniversary edition, matched for the first time with paintings by artist Jean-Michel Basquiat.
The poem celebrates the courage inside us all, whatever age we are, and how we can conquer our fears of everything from big ghosts in a cloud to a new classroom. The pictures make an amazing new story out of the poem for children to talk about.
This is a really lovely, inspiring book that is perfect to share with children aged from seven upwards, but also will be of interest to older children. There’s some really useful information at the back of the book that is a great introduction to Maya Angelou and Jean-Michel Basquiat, which will hopefully open doors for older readers into investigating their other work.
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