Paul Laurence Dunbar (June 27, 1872 – February 9, 1906) was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born in Dayton, Ohio, to parents who had been enslaved in Kentucky before the American Civil War, Dunbar began writing stories and verse when he was a child. He published his first poems at the age of 16 in a Dayton newspaper, and served as president of his high school’s literary society.

Dunbar became one of the first influential Black poets in American literature and was internationally acclaimed for his poems in dialectic verse (African American Vernacular English or Black English). Those poems constitute a small portion of his canon, which is replete with novels, short stories, essays, and many poems in standard English. In its entirety, Dunbar’s literary body is regarded as an impressive representation of Black life in turn-of-the-century America. [Source: PoetryFoundation.org]

I’ve always been especially moved by Dunbar’s poem, We Wear the Mask, even incorporating parts of it into one of my conference talks. And I’ve shared some of his other poems with my kids over the years, but we’ve never spent concentrated time learning about Dunbar’s life while developing an actual relationship with his work. Because of this, I’m super excited about this in-depth Paul Laurence Dunbar poetry study!

“Paul Laurence Dunbar stands out as the first poet from the Negro race in the United States to show a combined mastery over poetic material and poetic technique, to reveal innate literary distinction in what he wrote, and to maintain a high level of performance. He was the first to rise to a height from which he could take a perspective view of his own race. He was the first to see objectively its humor, its superstitions, its short-comings; the first to feel sympathetically its heart-wounds, its yearnings, its aspirations, and to voice them all in a purely literary form.”

James Weldon Johnson, African American civil rights activist and writer (Lift Every Voice and Sing)

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Paul Laurence Dunbar Poetry Study – Children’s Books

These are the four books that I’m using and offering to my children for our study. Read my notes for each to determine which one(s) will work best for your family.

Jump Back, Honey: The Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar is a picture book featuring a brief biography and 14 of Dunbar’s poems. “A rich collection that is at once playful and poignant,” this is a gem to grace every bookshelf. My favorite thing about this book is that it’s illustrated by a collection of amazing artists, including Ashley Bryan, Brian Pinkney, Jerry Pinkney, Faith Ringgold, and more. This book is a perfect option for younger elementary children, and I’ll kick off our study by reading a couple of poems a day from it until we’re done. I know that my youngest guy will really appreciate the illustrations, but all of the kids will enjoy it. LOOK INSIDE

Jump Back, Paul: The Life and Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar by Sally Derby is my favorite book on Dunbar, and if your kids are roughly in 4th-7th grades, I think it’s the only book you’ll need for this study. It’s a chapter book filled with black and white illustrations, and more than two dozen of Dunbar’s poems are woven throughout the biographical text. “The selected works illuminate the phases of his life and serve as examples of dialect, imagery, and tone.” This book is the heart of our study. AUDIOBOOK: Listen to the audiobook sample on Amazon. So so good! I highly recommend it. Especially because of the dialect used in some of the poems.

Paul Laurence Dunbar: Black Poet Laureate by Pearle Henriksen Schultz was published in 1974, and I purchased it at the recommendation of a good friend. This is one that I’ll have available for any of my children who want to dig deeper and learn more about him after or during our family study. LOOK INSIDE

Paul Laurence Dunbar: A Poet to Remember by Patricia McKissack is another one that’s here if one of the kids wants to grab it, but I won’t be reading it aloud or assigning it. I purchased this because it’s written by one of my children’s favorite authors. She passed away in 2017, and we’ve been collecting her work ever since. LOOK INSIDE

Books Featuring Paul Laurence Dunbar’s Work

For most families, including mine, the books above will be sufficient for your Paul Laurence Dunbar poetry study, but if you’d like to dig deeper into his work, any of these books would be a good place to start:

• The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar
• The Life And Works Of Paul Laurence Dunbar: Containing His Complete Poetical Works, His Best Short Stories, Numerous Anecdotes And A Complete Biography Of The Famous Poet
• Paul Laurence Dunbar Selected Poems
• The Heart of Happy Hollow: A Collection of Stories by Paul Laurence Dunbar (Sixteen Short Stories) – This books offers an expanded view of Dunbar’s writing beyond poetry and would be a nice addition for older students.
• Update: Simply Charlotte Mason just released a poetry study for Paul Laurence Dunbar. I’m elated to see all of the new releases celebrating Black voices!

Biographical Books for Older Teens & Adults

I don’t own these books and have not read them, but my research led me to these biographical options that I think would be ideal for older teens and adults.

Oak and Ivy: A Biography of Paul Laurence Dunbar is considered a key contribution to Dunbar studies, and A Singer in the Dawn: Reinterpretations of Paul Laurence Dunbar contains a prose contribution by Nikki Giovanni, one of the world’s most well-known Black poets. She calls Dunbar “a natural resource of our people,” and I wholeheartedly agree.

Podcast & Video

This podcast from Classics for Kids shares a unique connection between the music of Black composer William Grant Still and the poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar.

And here’s a video highlighting Dunbar’s life. I recommend it for upper elementary and beyond:

I hope your family can use some of these resources to learn more about this influential poet and the literary treasures he left behind. Please feel free to share any additional resources in the comments.

You’ll find me hanging out on Instagram @heritagemomblog. Hope to see you there!