Child of the Civil Rights Movement

Paula has written a great book for both children and adults to read. She has shared powerful memories of her experience growing up during a crucial time in African American history. I highly recommend this book for anyone who would be willing to take a journey through some of the major events of the Civil Rights Movement and see it through the eyes of a little girl. The pictures are vivid and bright. The language is simple and real. Having grown up during this period in time, this book serves as a reminder that each generation has to carry the torch for freedom and equality. It is not an option, but a responsibility. I appreciate this book and look forward to reading more from Paula.

Little Paula was from New York where Jim Crow didn't live, but when her family "saw something called the Freedom Riders" on the news it was time to head back to their Southern roots. More people were needed and the Young family quickly packed to join in and help the protesters. Of course Paula thought that Jim Crow was a big old crow that lived in Georgia. When any black person got on the bus and grabbed a decent seat it would say "CAWWW. CAWWW, you can't sit there!" That really wasn't the case, but little girls think literally at times. What he really was, was a mean old white man who made fun of African Americans. Her Daddy, Andrew Young, and her Mama Jean "decided to see how far things had really come." After church they went to a new Holiday Inn. There were many empty seats, but would they be allowed in. No, no, no. Andrea was hungry and plopped down on the floor and began to wail. Her own protest was allowed to continue, but to no avail. Her aunts and uncles would continue her protest, but would they succeed? Randolph Blackwell, Hosea Williams, James Orange, Ralph Abernathy, Dorothy Cotton, Martin Luther King, Jr. and others were all there as a "family." Would a family be able to succeed where the individual had failed? This is the type of book that is so impressive it actually made the hair stand up on my arms by the time I reached the end. Told from the point of view of a young child, Paula Young Shelton, who actually experienced the joys, the heartbreak and the violence of the civil rights movement through her own and "extended" family it made it all the more poignant. As a young child she knew most of the activists as aunts and uncles, but they were truly family in every sense of the word. The illustrations were stunning and contributed greatly to this brief historical overview of the civil rights movement. This stunning book is one you should seriously consider adding to your homeschool or library shelves!

Paula Young Shelton has written a wonderful book explaining the reason for the Civil Rights Movement. This is something that children and adults under 50 often do not understand. Thankfully, our era is different, but we need to appreciate why the change happened. It is also touching that families were engaged in the movement. It gives history a humanity that is seldom conveyed. The beautiful illustrations make this a great book to read aloud to any age.

Paula Young Shelton has written an authentic and instructive memoir of her family's participation in the Civil Rights Movement. Divided into meaningful moments, both illustration and text work together perfectly to paint a picture children will understand. Particularly effective are her explanations of Jim Crow Laws and "The Civil Rights Family." The collaboration of Young Shelton and Colon is a real success. As a librarian, I look forward to sharing this picture book with groups of all ages.

This is a perfect book for parents and children to read together about the experience of being a child of a civil rights leader. I loved the image of Dr. King in his bathing suit playing with children at the YMCA pool. We get a behind-the-scenes picture of him as a family man and appreciate that his dreams for our nation were far more than rhetoric. Modern parents will marvel at how the movement was organized around the kitchen table. This book is destined to become a conversation piece for all families who want to understand our history.