Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Nonfiction
For ages 5 to 8
Holiday House, 2003 ISBN: 978-0823418039
When Martin was only six he was told that two little boys whom he liked to play with could no longer be his playmates. This was because they were white and he was black. Martin could not help wondering why some people seem to care so much about the color of his skin. He knew that there were many things that black people could not do in his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia. He knew that blacks had to sit at the back of the bus. He knew that blacks had to use separate water fountains and separate schools.
Over time Martin came to learn that the authorities could tell him that he was inferior and separate, but in his mind and heart he knew otherwise. When he grew up to be a pastor Martin set about letting his people know that they too was just as good as white people and that they deserved the same rights and privileges that white people had. In time Martin became the spearhead for a movement which he hoped would ensure that black people would no longer have to live under the shadow of segregation and racism.
This well written little book will provide young readers with an excellent introduction to the life and work of Martin Luther King Jr. A simple and yet informative text and a chapter by chapter format will give children the real sense that they are reading a ‘proper’ book about an important subject.
