One of the picture books in Gage’s Christmas advent tree was Martin’s Big Words:The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. written by Doreen Rappaport and illustrated by Bryan Collier.  It is a gorgeous book, this picture of the cover doesn’t do it justice.  It’s oversized and has won many well-deserved awards.

Jason read the book to Gage (now 6-still can’t believe it) first and I remember Gage asking a lot of questions about him getting killed at the end.  Not a lot of books prepare a child for this sort of ending.

The second time I sat down to read it with him a few days ago and before we even sat down he was telling me how King did good things. I told him yes, Martin Luther King changed the world (something we talk about often with different people) and even before I got the book opened he asked me, “How old was he when he knew?”  “Knew what?” “That he wanted to change the world.”  My heart melted.  It is never too early to talk to kids about grand ideas or big dreams!  We find out in the book that the seeds were planted when he was Gage’s age.

A beautiful book and starting place for young kids to learn about a civil rights icon.  It led to great questions and a real interest to learn more.  For both of us.