There Was a Party for Langston

There Was a Party for Langston is a picture book by Jason Reynolds, illustrated by brothers Jerome and Jarrett Pumphrey, that celebrates the poet Langston Hughes and the writers he inspired. The book centers on a real event: a 1991 celebration in Hughes's honor at the New York Public Library's Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem. Reynolds writes in a rhythmic, playful voice that echoes the music of Hughes's own poems, and the Pumphreys' bold art shows words and writers coming alive on the page. The book introduces young readers to Hughes's place in American literature and to the joy of a community gathering to honor its poets. It earned a 2024 Caldecott Honor and a 2024 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor.