House That Crack Built »

Clark Taylor has worked as a bartender, an oil field laborer, and a jail services volunteer but now makes his living as a comedian. Mr. Taylor lives in New York City.

Jan Thompson Dicks is the illustrator of The House That Crack Built, published by Chronicle Books in 1992 to extraordinary critical acclaim. She lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

With a beat reminiscent of hip hop or rap music, a well known nursery rhyme is brilliantly transformed into a powerful poem about the tragic problem of illegal drugs and its victims. From the harvesting of the coca plants to dealers and gangs to the innocent crack babies born everyday, cocaine's journey is starkly traced from beginning to end. The rhythmic text, which is realistic but not moralizing, will appeal to teenagers and adults. But it is also accessible for even very young children, making this a valuable resource for parents, teachers, librarians, caregivers, and everyone else who is looking for a way to broach this difficult subject. A list of organizations is provided for those seeking help for a loved one or a way out for themselves. A forword by children's advocate Michael Pritchard teaches us that we are all victims of this debilitating drug but reminds us that we also have the ability to change our world.

Publishers Weekly

A familiar nursery rhyme takes a decidedly dark turn in this sobering picture book. Written in a hip - hop rhythm and based on ``The House That Jack Built,'' the new cumulative rhyme focuses attention on the drug trade and abuse of crack cocaine. No stone is left unturned as the text demonstrates the drug's ripple effect that begins with exploited South American coca farmers--``These are the Farmers who work in the heat''--and ends up invading urban neighborhoods also infested with gangs, violence, despair and hopelessness: ``This is the Street of a town in pain''; ``This is the Girl who's killing her brain.'' Dicks uses muted, somber colors and almost cubist figures and images to illustrate crack's lethal potential. The picture book format is well-suited to presentation of this subject matter to a wide audience--younger readers can readily digest the sparse text and ask questions about the art, while older children and adults may use the book as a jumping off point for more involved discussion. All of the publisher's proceeds from the book will go to drug education, prevention and rehabilitation programs that specifically help children. All ages. (May)