Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Martin Luther King Jr: Great civil Rights Leader
Illustrator: Brian Bascle
Nonfiction Graphic Novel Series
For ages 8 to 10
Capstone Press, 2006 ISBN: 978-0736864985
Martin Luther King Jr. grew up in Atlanta Georgia. In those days, in the 1930’s and 1940’s, black people like him were not allowed the same freedoms that white people had. Segregation laws kept the two races apart and black people were treated as if they were inferior. Martin’s parents did their best to equip their son to deal with these hardships and taught him to be proud of who and what he was.
When he was a young man Martin went to college in the north for a few years and there he met people who treated him with respect and decency. When he went back home he decided that he was not going to accept the segregation laws without a fight but he also decided that his fight would be a peaceful one. He would speak, protest, boycott, and march. He would not resort to violence and he would not sanction those who did. Through his work as a pastor Martin was able to reach out to a lot of people and he was able to mobilize the community to protest against segregation.
Using a graphic rich, comic strip style format, the author of this book brings the story of Martin Luther King to life. She helps her readers understand how hard it was to be a black person in the south and how much courage was needed to fight for civil rights.
This is the perfect book for the young reader who likes to read books with lots of illustrations in them. Reluctant readers will discover that history can be both entertaining and interesting.
