I Have a Dream by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
with paintings by Kadir Nelson
This outstanding picture book is made up of excerpts of Dr. King's famous speech paired with illustrations by Kadir Nelson that are worthy of the large pages. He alternatively shows views of the speech itself and the thousands of people listening raptly to the words with images of people of all colors celebrating together. The entire speech is printed at the end of the book. As if the artwork were not enough in itself (it really is), the book comes with a CD recording of Dr. King's speech. The children and I listened to it together after reading a few other books on Martin Luther King, Jr. It is a great gift to our children to share this amazing speech and dream with them.
Our immediate family is not mixed, but my youngest sister is adopted and black. My sister-in-law is a naturalized citizen born in El Salvador. Some of our godchildren are the children of a mixed marriage. I take advantage of nearly every opportunity to speak openly with my children about equality and seeing Christ in all people of all colors and abilities, but this book doesn't just give an opportunity to talk about it. It gives us a vision of a shared dream, and a beautiful one at that.
