I would like to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with one of my personal favorite books about his life: Martin's Big Words: The Life of Martin Luther King, Jr. by Doreen Rappaport and illustrated by Bryan Collier. I know that this book was published in 2001 but it is a book that just absolutely adore for so many reasons.
The powerful and amazing drawing of Martin's face on the cover is how I believe he would always wants to be remembered: strong, confident, reassuring and hopeful. There are times I wished I could have met him personally, or walked with him during his many peaceful marches but in the back of my mind I know that those were disturbing moments in American History.
I enjoy when books include an author's and illustrator's note; it makes me feel connected to the story, or it is like getting a "behind the scene" peek into an author's work. If I haven't read the illustrator's note at the beginning of this book, I would have missed the fact that the reason he included four candles in the last picture is to represent the four girls who were killed in the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. I also love the collage as the medium for this book because it allows so many things to be brought together at once.
Since I have been reading in English, my second language (more than 15 years now), I have learned to pay attention to words, choices of words, phrases, idioms, etc. When I saw the title of this book: Martin's Big Words, I felt the connection right away. I love words. I love Martin's words. I love that the author decided to pay attention to his influential words, words that have touched million and millions of people in this nation. May his words always prevail.
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