Synopses & Reviews
Celebrated poet and playwright Ntozake Shange captures the spirit of civil rights pioneer Coretta Scott King — illustrated by Caldecott Honor artist Kadir Nelson. This nonfiction picture book is an excellent choice to share during homeschooling, in particular for children ages 6 to 8. It's a fun way to learn to read and as a supplement for activity books for children.
Walking many miles to school in the dusty road, young Coretta Scott knew the unfairness of life in the segregated south. A yearning for equality began to grow. Together with Martin Luther King, Jr., she gave birth to a vision of change through nonviolent protest. It was the beginning of a journey — with dreams of freedom for all.
Review
“Nelson's jacket portrait, monumental and tender at the same time, sets the tone for this intimate picture biography. Shange's rhythmic lines and formal syntax roll like waves carrying readers on a soul-stirring ride through Coretta's coming of age in the Civil Rights Movement.” Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
Review
“Poetic language paired with powerful images make this biography/history of the Civil Rights Movement a moving, provacative read-aloud. Every library will want copies of this lyrical tribute to an elegant woman and the era she represents.” School Library Journal (Starred Review)
Review
“Poet and painter have joined forces to offer an indelible, emotional expression of the strength, beauty, and joy of one womans character.” Booklist (Starred Review)
About the Author
Ntozake Shange is a celebrated poet and author of many novels and plays, including the Obie Award-winning play
For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf, which was made into a feature film. Ms. Shange is also the author of several children's books, including the Coretta Scott King Award-winning book
Ellington Was Not a Street, illustrated by Kadir Nelson.
Kadir Nelson won the 2012 Coretta Scott King Author Award and Illustrator Honor for Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans. He received Caldecott Honors for Henry's Freedom Box by Ellen Levine and Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom by Carole Boston Weatherford, for which he also garnered a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award and won an NAACP Image Award. Ellington Was Not a Street by Ntozake Shange won a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award. Nelson's authorial debut, We Are the Ship, was a New York Times bestseller, a Coretta Scott King Author Award winner, and a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor book. He is also the author and illustrator of the acclaimed Baby Bear.