A Likkle Miss Lou: How Jamaican Poet Louise Bennett Coverley Found Her Voice

In the sun-drenched streets of Jamaica’s sugarcane villages, young Louise Bennett Coverley—later celebrated as Miss Lou—first tuned her ears to patois’s melodic rhythms even as teachers urged her to pack her prose into “tight cornrows” of standard English. Born into a world where colonial laws prized Queen’s English, she cracked open classrooms with verses that sparkled like mango sunsets, later charming global audiences and paving the way for Harry Belafonte’s folk melodies and Bob Marley’s reggae to burst into patois-fueled triumph. With Nadia L. Hohn’s #OwnVoices perspective and Jonathan Nelson’s clay-modeled art, A Likkle Miss Lou carries readers from Kingston to Toronto—where Miss Lou lived for twenty years—tracing her fierce journey toward linguistic pride, Immigrant Rights, and Education Equity. Endnotes include a glossary of patois terms and biographical notes that highlight Immigration Rights and Education Equity across North America. This modern ode to language and girl power invites classrooms, after-school art clubs, and Sunday-school circles to challenge stereotypes and champion every child’s right to speak in the voice of their heart. Will your students embrace Miss Lou’s chorus or let their dialects retreat into silence? Tap the Save to List button to bookmark this title, or tap the External Link button to view purchase and rental options.