AUTHOR: Rachel Dangermond
I never tire of hearing Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s historic speech, I Have A Dream, and was pleased to see Kadir Nelson included a CD and the full transcript of the speech with his picture book, I Have A Dream. Nelson has delivered to us a sumptious visual rendition of what Dr. King said in 1961. Each illustration that accompanies an excerpt from the speech is a gorgeous interpretation of Dr. King’s words.
The intense close up illustration of a Black hand holding a white hand with Dr. King’s words: “With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day,” moved me to tears. Throughout the book, the combination of the gorgeous illustrations coupled with the powerful words of Dr. King is very stirring. The illustrations are bold, the words are bold, and together they are powerful.
I read the book to my seven-year-old son, and at the end, he said, “We need to be free! What [Dr. King] said doesn’t get old. And the pictures of the kids with kids is awesome.” I agree, this speech never gets old and Nelson’s illustrations are true art from the heart. I look forward to pulling this book down from our bookshelf to read over and over.
The intense close up illustration of a Black hand holding a white hand with Dr. King’s words: “With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day,” moved me to tears. Throughout the book, the combination of the gorgeous illustrations coupled with the powerful words of Dr. King is very stirring. The illustrations are bold, the words are bold, and together they are powerful.
I read the book to my seven-year-old son, and at the end, he said, “We need to be free! What [Dr. King] said doesn’t get old. And the pictures of the kids with kids is awesome.” I agree, this speech never gets old and Nelson’s illustrations are true art from the heart. I look forward to pulling this book down from our bookshelf to read over and over.
The New Orleans Blended Books Club will host a Martin Luther King Storytelling Hour and Book Sale on Saturday, January 14th from 3:00pm to 4:00pm at Stella Jones Gallery. LOOK HERE for additional details, and please visit www.stellajonesgallery.com.
 | RACHEL DANGERMOND is the author of the forthcoming book, The Elephant In The Playground, a memoir about a Sephardic mom raising a Black son in New Orleans. She is a facilitator with New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu's Welcome Table, a race reconciliation initiative that began in 2013. She is also a trained mediator and participates with the Department of Justice on community policing topics. Rachel is the founder of Transracial Parenting a wheelhouse of writing, speaking, and workshops helping to advance the conversation of race particularly as it relates to parenting. For more information visit www.transracialparenting.com and follow Transracial Parenting on Facebook. |
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