Week 7: Martin's Big Words

• Week: 7
• Book Title:  Martin's Big Words by Doreen Rappaport, illustrated by Bryan Collier
• Book Cover Image:

Copyright 2001, Hyperion Books for Children

• Book Summary:  This is a very basic view on Martin Luther King Jr.'s life from when he was a little boy in Atlanta to when he was shot in Memphis.  There are a timeline, bibliography, and websites for further information.  The illustrations are a collage of powerful images that symbolize many of the things from MLK's life.  
• APA Reference:  Rappaport, D.  (2001).  Martin's big words.  New York, NY:  Hyperion Books for Children.
• My Impressions:  It is a shame that I have never read this book before.  I think it should be a part of each elementary school teacher's personal library to share with their class on Martin Luther King's Day every year.  The powerful images of church and family combined with the historical pictures and quotes bring the man to life.  The message of love and peace is one all people should hear.  That message clashes with MLK's actual life . . . his life was full of turmoil and violence.  This is a poignant story children should hear and read every year. Martin's Big Words is a powerful telling of an icon's life.
• Professional Review:

Booklist ( October 01, 2001; 9780786825912 )

Ages 4-9. "Remember if I am stopped, this movement will not be stopped, because God is with this movement." Weaving in Dr. King's own "big words," this inspiring picture-book biography celebrates the great leader as preacher and politician. Rappaport's spare narrative captures the essentials of the man, the movement he led, and his policy of nonviolence. Only in the case of Rosa Parks is the glimpse too simplistic, presenting her as an individual who refused to give up her seat on the bus, rather than as the political activist she was. Collier's collage art is glorious. Combining cut-paper, photographs, and watercolor he expresses his own Christian faith and King's power "to make many different things one." Stained glass windows are the dominant images, not only in the many church scenes, but also in the play of shape, light, and color in the realistic views of the city. With powerful art and pulsing words ("He walked with them and talked with them and sang with them and prayed with them"), this is a fine book to share and read aloud many times. --Hazel Rochman

From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission Rochman, H.  (2001, October 1).  [Review of the book Martin's big words, by D. Rappaport].  Booklist. Retrieved from Bowker booksinprint.com.

• Library Uses:  For all of Black History Month, and especially on Martin Luther King's birthday, I would display and read Martin's Big Words.  A bulletin board with a poster of MLK and Rosa Parks surrounded with student writing from all grade levels would be the focal point in the library that month.  Each class and grade level can write with the prompt, "I have a dream . . ." and they can be displayed all together.