I've Seen the Promised Land by Walter Dean Myers

Title: I've Seen the Promised Land: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Author/Illustrator: Walter Dean Myers/Leonard Jenkins
Genre: Non-fiction
Age: 5-8

This book is about the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This book talks about how Dr. King got involved in Civil Rights Movements and how he believed the American people should be treated, all while holding a non-violent view. It talked about how he got involved with the bus boycotts after Rosa Parks denied giving up her seat, and was then arrested because of it. The people felt that they shouldn't have to pay money to ride the bus if they were going to have to give up their seats, just because they weren't white. At the time Dr. King was a pastor at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, and people were impressed with him and asked him to lead the boycott. There were many groups that did everything to stop black people from being treated equal. Dr. King was even arrested so they could harass him, and a firebomb was even thrown onto the porch of his house. The Montgomery bus boycott lasted a year until June 1956 a law saying that the separation of blacks and whites was unconstitutional. Dr. King knew he might face jail time, but knew it was apart of what he had to do. In 1959 he spent a month with Mohandas Gandhi and learned more about his life and taken up his philosophy of nonviolence into his own heart. Even though many opposed his views, some argued that it was necessary for them to be violent back. It also talked about how another activist was on the scene at the same time, that being Malcolm X, although he believed in violence. In 1963, the voices of of those against nonviolence grew louder, and President John F. Kennedy became sympathetic to the cause. In August 1963 Dr. King planned a March on Washington, and many people around the world came to be involved. Many people also expressed their concerns desire for fairness and justice. On September 15, 1963, four little girls were killed because a bomb was thrown into a Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. Then November 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. During his life he was jailed, beaten and threatened, but maintained his course. He always had faith that hatred couldn't last forever and in 1964 he received the Nobel Peace Prize for recognition of his work. The next few years he watched as sorrow continued to grow as Malcolm X was assassinated. On March 28 he led a march through downtown Memphis, and gave a message but believed it fell on deaf ears. Dr. King said he had seen the promised land but was fearful he might not make it with them, but he held onto that faith. The next day on April 4th Dr.King stood on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel and was killed. He knew he would die and possibly a violent death, but his legacy lives on within us and all that he stood for. In the end he wanted to remembered as someone who believed in love, and peace.

I liked this book because I think students can really benefit from it and that they can see the big picture of what he lived his life for. It's also very straightforward and allows room for detail, but doesn't go too in depth. I think as students are younger it would be better for teachers to read this to them, but as they get older they can read it to themselves. Therefore, depending on the grade I was teaching, this would either be in he class library or the teacher's library. I think students in Kindergarten - 3rd would enjoy this book,  and the text in simple enough for them to understand. If I were to do a lesson or include this in a lesson it would be over the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
- Peace. Love. Giraffes.