Martin's Big Words by Doreen Rappaport, illustrated by Bryan Collier is an inspirational story about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This story begins with Martin as a child. The readers are introduced to him through childhood experiences such as walking through the city with his mother and going to church to listen to his father preach. The book then takes the reader on a journey through his adult life beginning with him becoming a minster followed by his studies of freedom. The beauty of this book comes from the author's ability to not only familiarize the reader with Martin and his personality, but also to familiarize the reader with events that changed history. Some of the events mentioned in the story were Rosa Park's refusal to give up her seat, the bus boycott, the marches for freedom, as well as the many acts of violence toward African Americans. Throughout the story certain texts are in bold print to provide emphasis to the meaning behind these specific words. All of the words put into bold print are actually quotes from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. himself.
There are two elements that I absolutely love about this book. One of these is the author's clever ability to intertwine her lyrical text with Dr. King's very own words. The story remains very kid friendly because of her words and simple text, but very inspirational because of his "big words." Another element of the story that stands out to me is the beautiful illustrations. The illustrator uses a mixture of collages and watercolor. He also uses much symolism and metaphors throughout his illustrations. I have read this book several times and each time I read it I notice something new about the pictures. Many of the pictures are what makes that particular part of the story so emotional. They really help the reader to get lost within the historical events that took place during Martin Luther King, Jr.'s life.
One thing that really influenced my response to this book my interest in American history. Having knowledge about events that took place throughout our history is so important. I try to teach my first graders even at such an early age the importance of understanding our nation's history. This book is such an excellent tool to have in an elementary classroom to teach students about Martin Luther King Jr's life. Unlike many informational autobiographies, this book is extremely easy for childeren as young as Kindergarten to understand. The beautiful illustrations help the children understand the emotions of the people in the story and allow them to relate to their feelings throughout the book.
The author of this story, Doreen Rappaport, was actually a high school student in 1955 during the Montgomery bus boycott. She was a teacher in the 1960's during the Southern sit-ins and even went to the march on Washington in 1963 to support the movement. She even went on to actually teach at a Mississippi freedom school in 1965 where she saw firsthand the hardships African Americans were facing at that time. This author is not only extremely knowledgeable about this time in the history of America, but extremely passionate as well. I think this carries over into her book and helps make it that much more of an inspiration.
This book addresses diversity. It discusses terrible things such as racism, bombings, murders, and assassination. Yet also discusses wonderful things such as love, peace, harmony, pride, and determination. This story sends the message to the reader that despite all of the hardships and happiness in life and despite all of the differences people in our society have between one another, we all have one thing in common. The one commonality is that we are all human with the same need to be loved.
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