Coretta Scott

An inspirational story captures the life of Coretta Scott and her vision of change through nonviolent protests.

Kadir Nelson illustrates Ntozake Shange’s brief poem about Coretta Scott King and her contribution to the civil rights movement. This book heavily relies on the illustrators images to convey the author’s point. Shange doesn’t tell an elaborate tale with her words, but the succinct statements combined with the powerful realistic illustrations by Nelson make elaboration unnecessary. ( )

i don't want poetry. i want a story. 6/9 pictures of coretta are profiles, plus the photo. what is that about? a very strange book. ( )

This lovely picture book (with illustrations by Kadir Nelson) putatively honors Coretta Scott, but I felt it was more about her husband, Martin Luther King, Jr. (An afterward for adults is, however, focused more on Coretta.) The book doesn’t cover at all the period after King’s assassination, when Coretta took on a leadership role, founding the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change in Atlanta, becoming an anti-apartheid activist, campaigning against homophobia, and actively participating in the women’s movement. The fact that over 14,000 people attended her funeral in 2006, including U.S. Presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, Jimmy Carter, and their wives, attests to the great importance of Mrs. King herself, and the esteem in which she was held.

Although the text of this book is lovely, and the pictures outstanding, I hope to see additional books for children that recognize this important woman for her own achievements separate from those of her husband. ( )

Coretta Scott King is known to many as a Civil Rights activist and the wife of Martin Luther King. I had not heard much of her childhood. While this was told in verse form, I was able to get a grasp of the type of childhood she had.

The author manages to mix verse, nonfiction, and biography. It was a different way to tell a biography and I think any student, teacher, or reader would find it refreshing. This would be a great book to use to introduce Black History Month or any discussion on remarkable women in history. ( )