An interesting short story that teaches a lot about Civil Rights for such a short book. Telling the story with the bus as the main character provides a different view of Rosa Parks and the Civil Rights movement. This story would be a great one to share when celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day or Black History Month. It could also be used to teach a lesson, using an inanimate object (like a bus) to drive the story.

Bus #2857, the bus Rosa Parks was riding the day she refused to stand up and give her seat up for whites. She got arrested so all blacks decided to boycott the city buses, as they showed that they were fighting for their rights. They walked everywhere and boycotted buses for 382 days. Now its history and they are free to ride and sit wherever they want in a bus. Now bus 2857 is part of history and it sits as a monument in the Henry Ford Museum. The bus has a historical value.

The biography of bus #2857. ( )

The Civil Rights movement is something I am passionate about. I feel lucky that I am too young to have lived during Jim Crow era, or at least I thought. However, there are still some areas in this country where things really haven't changed. Black and white people are still separated. In schools in Mississippi this is happening, and several other places in the south.

I find it so horrendous that we have treated other human beings as anything less. I was lucky enough to tour the Civil Rights museum in the Lorraine Hotel (where MLK was killed) and have been studying the topic ever since. When the chance to read this book came up in this class I couldn't wait.

This book is easy to read and understand from a child's perspective. It explains what happened in detail and explains that it's just what happened. I also like the Author's Note at the end and how it explains that Rosa Parks wasn't just an old woman unwilling to move. She was actually an active member of the NAACP and her protest had been planned. I think it's important for older children to know the true story and how important these figures are in our American history.

This is a story of a true life situation that happened to Rosa Parks when she was a child and faced a discrimination situation when she rode her school bus to school. The way in which she handled the situation set in motion the civil rights movement.
Source: Pierce County Library
Age: 6-7