Nikki Grimes birthday, October 20

INTRODUCTION
Danitra Brown is a recurring character in Nikki Grimes’ poetry collections. When Danitra goes away for the summer, she and a friend exchange letters.

POEM

Dream Places

By Nikki Grimes

Dear Danitra,

Since you left,
I’ve put a map on my bedroom wall.
I stick gold stars on all the places
I’ll travel to someday:
Zaire, Hong Kong, Bombay.
I find each city in my geography book,
Look up the facts and figures,
And write them down in the diary
I keep beside my bed. I lay my head
Back on the pillow, close my eyes,
And see myself, a little older,
Walking down an African street,
Soaking in the heat of the sun.

EXTENSION
Everybody has dreams of taking a trip someplace extra-special. Tack a large world map to your class wall, and provide map pins for students to locate places they want to visit someday. Have students write poems about their dream places and display them with the world map.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Grimes, Nikki. 2002. DANITRA BROWN LEAVES TOWN. Illustrated by Floyd Cooper. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 0688131557

Photo courtesy of http://www.nikkigrimes.com/gallery.html