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Soul Looks Back in Wonder

Author Various
Illustrated by Tom Feelings
Edited by Tom Feelings
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"The selections are uniformly uplifting, with affirming messages about the heritage, strength and dreams of African Americans."—Publishers Weekly

In this compelling collection of words and pictures, the voices of thirteen major poets, including Maya Angelou, Langston Hughes, and Walter Dean Myers, rise in response to the dazzling vistas and emotionally vivid portraits of award-winning artist Tom Feelings. A unique and moving collaboration that celebrates the sustaining spirit of African creativity. 
Daniel Hahn is an award-winning translator, writer and editor. His 2026 books include If This Be Magic: the unlikely art of Shakespeare in translation, and translated novels from Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Peru and Guatemala.

Padma Viswanathan is author of three novels and a memoir, published in eight countries and shortlisted for the Pen Center USA Fiction Prize, the Scotiabank Giller Prize and others, and has translated four books from Brazilian Portuguese. View titles by Various
Tom Feelings has received numerous awards for his art in books. In 1972, he was the first African-American artist to win a Caldecott Honor, for Moja Means One: Swahili Counting Book, and in 1975 he won a second Caldecott Honor for Jambo Means Hello: Swahili Alphabet Book, both written by Muriel Feelings. Mr. Feelings taught art at the University of South Carolina. It was during that time he published perhaps his best-known work, The Middle Passage, which won the 1996 Coretta Scott King Award. Mr. Feelings was working on finishing his last picture book, I Saw Your Face, a collaboration with the poet Kwame Dawes, not long before his death in 2003. View titles by Tom Feelings
  • WINNER
    Coretta Scott King Awards

About

"The selections are uniformly uplifting, with affirming messages about the heritage, strength and dreams of African Americans."—Publishers Weekly

In this compelling collection of words and pictures, the voices of thirteen major poets, including Maya Angelou, Langston Hughes, and Walter Dean Myers, rise in response to the dazzling vistas and emotionally vivid portraits of award-winning artist Tom Feelings. A unique and moving collaboration that celebrates the sustaining spirit of African creativity. 

Author

Daniel Hahn is an award-winning translator, writer and editor. His 2026 books include If This Be Magic: the unlikely art of Shakespeare in translation, and translated novels from Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Peru and Guatemala.

Padma Viswanathan is author of three novels and a memoir, published in eight countries and shortlisted for the Pen Center USA Fiction Prize, the Scotiabank Giller Prize and others, and has translated four books from Brazilian Portuguese. View titles by Various
Tom Feelings has received numerous awards for his art in books. In 1972, he was the first African-American artist to win a Caldecott Honor, for Moja Means One: Swahili Counting Book, and in 1975 he won a second Caldecott Honor for Jambo Means Hello: Swahili Alphabet Book, both written by Muriel Feelings. Mr. Feelings taught art at the University of South Carolina. It was during that time he published perhaps his best-known work, The Middle Passage, which won the 1996 Coretta Scott King Award. Mr. Feelings was working on finishing his last picture book, I Saw Your Face, a collaboration with the poet Kwame Dawes, not long before his death in 2003. View titles by Tom Feelings

Awards

  • WINNER
    Coretta Scott King Awards