The Trees Stand Shining: Poetry of the North American Indians

by Hettie Jones (Editor), Robert Andrew Parker (Illustrator)

A collection of poems from the native American oral tradition, augmented by impressionistic paintings and arranged in sections treating different life experiences, glorify the wonders of the natural world. Reissue. All ages.

Genres: Poetry, Cultural, Native American

32 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

Hettie Jones (born 1934 as Hettie Cohen) is best known as the first wife of Amiri Baraka, known as LeRoi Jones at the time of their marriage, but is also a writer herself.

While known for her poetry, she has received acclaim for her memoir, How I Became Hettie Jones (published 1990 by Grove Press).

Jones held various clerical jobs at Partisan Review and started the literary magazine Yugen with her husband. Jones is currently on the faculty in the graduate program in creative writing at The New School in New York City. From 1989-2002 she ran a writing workshop at the New York State Correctional Facility for Women at Bedford Hills, which included inmate Judy Clark as a student, and which published a nationally distributed collection, Aliens At The Border. Jones is a former chair of the PEN Prison Writing Committee and is currently a member of PEN's Advisory Council.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Kathleen Heroux]

This is a book of poetry, or rather songs that have been translated from their original Indian languages. Each tells a story, is a chant or a prayer. the illustrations are watercolors expressive of the poem with which it is paired.

[April Moreland]

book of poetry. josh says it was okay. poems were hard to understand.

[Kelsey Wolfe]

I loved this book because of the use of poetry, the cultural significance, and the amazing painted illustrations. I think this would be a good read to my students when introducing poetry, as well as looking into the cultural significance of this piece. I think this book could be used in my English or History classes in the future. Through these poems, it is evident through the use of personification that the North American Indians were very in touch with nature and animals. Each section of this piece reflects a different life experience and included with this are full-color paintings that perfectly portray the poems. I gave this book 4 stars because of the figurative language used in the poems, and the beautiful illustrations that helped portray the cultural significance of the piece.

[Debby]

Really songs of North American Indians of all different tribes and types of songs. Most are about nature and don't seem to fit together in English.

The oil and/or water color painting depict the poems very well and are really beautiful for the most part. Done by Andrew Parker.