Rosa by Nikki Giovanni

Title: Rosa
Author/Illustrator: Nikki Giovanni/Bryan Collier
Genre: Biography
Major Awards: Caldecott Honor Book (2006)
Age: 4-8

This book is about the life of Rosa Parks. Rosa Parks worked as a seamstress and one day her supervisor let her go home early since she was just about done with the piece she was working on, and they knew that if she didn't she would be there all night trying to get it finished on time. When she got on the bus, she had her fare ready and remembered she had to enter through the "Colored" doors. She saw that the section for blacks was full, and she noticed an open seat in the neutral section next to a man she knew., so she sat next to him. As the bus made several stops, people got on and off, there wasn't any room in the white section, so the bus driver told her she had to give up her seat. The man she was sitting next to got up because he didn't want any trouble, and a few onlookers from the black section said she shouldn't have to because she was sitting in the neutral section of the bus. She told the officer no and he called the cops, and she was later arrested. As Mrs. Robinson heard of her arrested she held and emergency meeting of the Women's Political Council, which she was the president of. They made flyers and posters telling the black citizens not to ride the buses in retaliation for Mrs. Parks being arrested. Not to long before Mrs. Parks was arrested Emmett Till had been lynched and his mother held his funeral for all to see what those people had done to her boy. The people were ready to stand with her. They asked Dr. King to speak at their mass meeting, and he said they will stay off the buses until justice was given. They marched for nearly a year and finally on November 13, 1956, the Supreme Court ruled that segregation would become illegal, just like it had with the schools. It ends by saying that her strength, integrity and dignity led her no becoming a yes for change. A change that needed to happen, because separate didn't mean equal.

I liked this book because it was informational yet moving at the same time. I believe students will enjoy this book and we already know that Rosa Parks is essentially a key piece in racial desegregation, sure there were many instances after her but she was a pivotal point in leading us to become equal. I think this book would be great for students in Preschool-3rd grade. I'm almost positive I would use this in a lesson to show students why Rosa Parks was such an influence on the Civil Rights Movement, and it shows them their first introduction to Dr. King, and how he became such an influence.
- Peace. Love. Giraffes.

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