I am Rosa Parks (Ordinary People Change the World)

I liked this book a lot; the nonfiction story of Rosa Park’s experience growing during slavery and her adulthood in the segregated south was well organized, accurate and very engaging for young readers being introduced to our country’s history with racism and prejudice. The story is narrated by Parks herself as she describes the circumstances in her childhood that led to her motivation for change as an adult—such as being shoved to the ground by a young white boy, where soon after his mother threatens to get Rosa Parks sent to prison and Parks stood up for herself. Rosa attended a segregated school with kids of varying ages, and they could only attend classes for five months out of the year—the rest of the time they were show more expected to work in the fields. Many events led to her famed refusal to move from her seat in the “whites only” section of the bus, later getting arrested and starting a movement that contributed greatly to the racial freedom we have today. The first person point of view makes the story all the more engaging and real for readers—rather than having the story told to you by a third party, the reader feels as if he or she is having a conversation with Rosa, and she is telling you her story. For obvious reasons, the book urges readers to think about tough issues and pay attention to history as it tends to repeat itself— “I am Rosa Parks” is intended for readers age 5-8 so it is simplistically written and easy to grasp the harsh concepts that many children that age do not know a lot about just yet. The big idea of the story is to tell a crucial part of our country’s history in a way that is repetitive and definitive; there is no confusion for the reader by the end of the story on how Rosa Parks was treated and what she felt she needed to do. Readers will know that sometimes in your life, you will have to stand up for yourself and others—you have to stand up for what is right and speak on what you believe. Our voices matter and we do not have to sit back and take something that we think is wrong. show less

I really enjoyed this book for two reasons. First, I really love how the author tackled a hard subject such as racial tension in a truthful, but kid friendly way. For example, “When I was little I wondered if ‘white’ water tasted different from ‘colored’ water. I even wondered if colored water came in lots of colors.”
I also enjoyed this book due to the graphic novel inspiration. These pictures allow readers to see the difference between whites living in the south during that time and blacks living in the south during that time. Due to the graphic novel inspiration, this allowed the illustrator and author to add in some commentary explaining the situation in humorous ways. For example, while explaining the lack of education show more many African American children were dealt the character Rosa Parks comments, “Since most kids had to work on farms to earn money, we only went to school five months during the year.” Then next to her, a friend shouts, “Less school! HOORAY!” Rosa quickly retorts in a sassy tone, “Don’t say ‘Hooray’ that’s bad!” This interaction is very humorous to read with the illustration while still being informative. The main idea of this book is that even ordinary people can change the world. show less

I liked this book for three reasons. The first reason I enjoyed this book was that it was in the first person point of view, from the perspective of Rosa Parks. As the reader, you get this amazing perspective of what life was like for her at her age and how people of color were treated differently than white people. “I was sick a lot too, since we didn’t have money for a doctor. But that didn’t mean I was weak” is a great example of the point of view being used and an inside look on Rosa’s attitude towards life. By writing this way, I feel a deeper connection with Rosa even though this all happened decades ago. The second reason I liked this book was for Christopher Eliopoulos’ amazing detail in his illustrations. The colors show more on certain pages where whites were shown to have the better life were more vibrant than the colors used on the illustrations used to represent color segregation. Another small detail I enjoyed in the illustrations was the way Christopher drew the people. They looked like comic book characters, which made it easier to make out their emotions because they are exaggerated and are very easy to spot. The final reason I enjoyed this book was for the big idea behind the book and for the fact that it pushes the readers to think about tough issues and broadens perspectives. Racial segregation was and still is in a way a major political injustice. By sharing this sweet story of a woman standing up for herself and what she believes in, it gives the reader a sense of courage that maybe they can do the same thing and right a huge wrong with one little task. Like Rosa Parks did by not giving up her seat on the bus that day. show less

This picture book begins with a young Rosa Parks describing herself as small and sickly. As a child Rosa had a physical altercation with a young boy around her age. Even though it was tough, Rosa Parks was determined to stand up for herself. She kept this mindset throughout her entire life, which is how Rosa played a large part in shaping the world we live in today. Readers will also learn about segregation, civil rights, and some awards that Rosa Parks had been given. Most importantly, readers will learn to always stand up for themselves and fight for what they believe is right.

I thought that this was a great book for several reasons. This biography sent a very powerful message- to respect yourself and take a stand when others don’t respect you, which I believe is highly important. I also really liked the writing and word choice, which further exemplifies the message. For example, after Rosa Parks was pushed and knocked down as a young girl, she said, “...my mother and grandfather taught me to respect myself, and to expect respect from others,” in which she stood her ground and didn’t let herself get yelled at by the mother of the child who pushed her. Lastly, I liked the illustrations and felt that because they looked like comics, they evoked a lot of emotion. For instance, the pictures were very show more exaggerated, with bulging eyes, big mouths, and thought bubbles which would depict the anger and frustration Rosa Parks dealt with as a child. show less

I read this as part of Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge and am not the intended audience but still very good. I appreciated that Meltzer clarified that Rosa Parks's act of defiance was intentional. She acted with purpose and agency to create the change that she and other Civil Rights leaders wanted to bring about. Good lesson for children that "ordinary" people can change the world.

I absolutely loved this book! I like this books “I am Rosa Parks” for several reasons. To begin the author does a great job showing a biography of Rosa Parks in a children’s book. The book emphasizes in segregation, boycotting, and racism. This book can be used with several grades the reason being is because it could be a read out loud book for younger ages k-2nd grade, but it could be used in grades 3rd and 4th for the struggling readers who need pictures to guide them. The language in the book is straight forward and clear. The writing is organized and reflects the pictures shown in the book. Another reason why I like this book is because the book is written in first person. It really feels like Rosa Park is telling us her show more story. Something that caught my attention while reading is that her character in the story has two separate dialogues. One is where she is telling the audience her story and the other one is her speaking with her brother, friends, etc. The illustrations show a connection between the story and even have extra dialogue text to help the reader understand the story. The message of this non-fiction book really shows students how Rosa Parks stood up as a person. It shows that there is no such thing as an “ordinary” person and that we should all respect each other. show less