Martin Luther King, Jr. and the March on Washington

I am a second grade teacher. I use this book every year. I use it around his birthday, during Black History Month, and during our Language Arts unit on Courage. I love the part, and photograph, about the man that rollerskated from Chicago to see Dr. King. I think it protrays how important Dr. King was to people around the nation. This year I did somthing special. I work in Juvenile Hall with 15-16 year old males. Before I showed them the video of the speech, I had reveiwed some books about him, but I read this one aloud to them. It is a simple book that has a powerful message. The combination of drawings and photographs bring together this message.

I recently stumbled onto this book at a public library and I have to say I'm very impressed. Martin Luther King and the March on Washington is an excellent work that moves at a good pace for readers of any age. Going to the March on Washington to see King speak must have been a life-changing event that would positively impact anyone who attended. However, for those of us who were not there, or are too young to have been able to go, we are fortunate enough to feel like we are able to experience the magnitude of the event through the books pacing and sense of history. The author places us right in the moment and you can't help but feel like you are on the steps of the mall in Washington, surrounded by scores of people watching a critical moment in American history.