A Place to Land: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Speech that
Inspired a Nation by Barry Wittenstein, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. PICTURE BOOK/ NON-FICTION Neal Porter Books (Holiday House), 2019. $19. 9780823443314
BUYING
ADVISORY: EL, MS, HS - ADVISABLE
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
The day before the 1963 March on Washington,
Martin Luther King, Jr. was still pouring over his speech for the march. Other great Civil Rights Activists weighed in
on what King should or should not include in his speech, but ultimately King
took to writing and practicing his speech in his room all night. When it came time to deliver his prepared words,
he got to a point in the middle of his speech where he started preaching and
his most powerful words were shared and later titled “I Have a Dream”. The speech didn’t bring an end to racial
discrimination, but it has continued to inspire the downtrodden ever since it
was delivered.
Pinkney’s illustrations
evoke a tenderness and hope for King’s message of racial equality and a
reflection of events leading up to the speech.
Wittenstein’s writing has a good cadence that makes the telling of this
historical moment artistic. The combination
is moving and can be appreciated by all ages and would be fun to incorporate into the classroom.
The back of the book also includes short biographies of other Civil
Rights leaders. There isn't any content that would make this inappropriate for lower elementary, but I'm unsure if they will understand it as much as the older readers.
Reviewer, C. Peterson.
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