I’ve Seen the Promise Land─ The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

     This past week, one of our Third Grade classes came to the library looking for biographies of famous African-American’s in order to complete a special project in honor of Black History Month.  The origins of Black History Month began during the early 20th-century.   During 1915, motivated by his strong desire to put a spotlight on the accomplishments of African-Americans, a historian named Carter G. Woodson founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (presently called the Association for the Study of African American Life and History or ASALH for short).  The ASALH quickly established publication of The Journal of Negro History, and a decade later, Carter Woodson’s plan for a week of celebration and activities devoted to African-American history became a reality.  On February 7, 1926, the first Negro History Week was held.   Fifty years later, the ASALH expanded the week-long celebration of African-American history to a month, and Black History Month began.

      Unfortunately, although our library contains numerous titles detailing the lives of famous African-Americans, some of our books, most specifically on the life of the Civil Rights pioneer, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., are above the Third Graders reading level.  And, while we encouraged our students to seek the assistance of their teacher or parent if they encounter any difficulty when they are reading some of their books, I couldn’t help but think that we would have to make a special order soon for biographies that all of our students would be able to read and comprehend easily.

 

     Needless to say, when I came across I’ve Seen the Promise Land─ The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., by Coretta Scott King Award winning author’s Walter Dean Myers, I was so pleased to be able to find the type of story that provides an overview as well as explains the difficult aspects of Dr. King’s life in a simple yet compelling way that my students would appreciate.  While King’s basic biographical information starting with his birth in Atlanta, Georgia on January 15, 1929 is presented, set amidst powerfully emotional illustrations by Leonard Jenkins, I’ve Seen the Promise Land─ The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., highlights his beginning work during the Civil Rights Movement after Rosa Park’s historic refusal to sit in the back of a bus in Montgomery, Alabama.  Myers narrative is presented in such a way that children will find it easy to grasp.  I appreciated the way that Myers explored the origins of Dr. King’s principals of accomplishing social justice without resorting to violence by recalling King’s historic 1959 visit to India to meet with Mohandas Gandhi, the great India leader to led his country to independence by employing non-violent acts of civil disobedience.  And, while the aspects of Dr. King’s tragic death by assassination in 1968 are not glossed over, Myers implorers his young readers to understand that, “Dr. King wanted to be remembered simply as someone who had tried to do his best and to serve all people, regardless of race,” and how King’s legacy can continue to be achieved.

 

I’ve Seen the Promise Land─ The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Written by Walter Dean Myers & Illustrated by Leonard Jenkins

Publisher: Amistad, an imprint of HarperCollins Childrens

Website: www.harpercollinschildrens.com

Published in 2004

For ages 4 to 8

ISBN: 978-0-06-225002-5

Retails for $6.99