Child of the Civil Rights Movement

by Paula Young Shelton, Raul Colon (Illustrator)

Overview

In this Bank Street College of Education Best Children's Book of the Year, Paula Young Shelton, daughter of Civil Rights activist Andrew Young, brings a child’s unique perspective to an important chapter in America’s history. Paula grew up in the deep south, in a world where whites had and blacks did not. With an activist father and a community of leaders surrounding her, including Uncle Martin (Martin Luther King), Paula watched and listened to the struggles, eventually joining with her family—and thousands of others—in the historic march from Selma to Montgomery.

Poignant, moving, and hopeful, this is an intimate look at the birth of the Civil Rights Movement.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780385376068
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	07/23/2013
Pages:	48
Sales rank:	42,995
Product dimensions:	8.30(w) x 10.70(h) x 0.20(d)
Lexile:	AD960L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Paula Young Shelton is the daughter of civil rights leader and former U.N. ambassador Andrew Young. She is a teacher in Washington, D.C., and a member of the National Black Child Development Institute. Her husband, Hilary O. Shelton, is the director of the NAACP Washington Bureau.

Raul Colón is the acclaimed illustrator of numerous children’s books.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Starred Review, Booklist, February 1, 2010:
"The daughter of civil rights leader Andrew Young remembers her family’s active role in the civil rights movement, beginning when she was four years old...Many adults will want to talk about their memories of the time, and kids will appreciate the child’s intimate viewpoint of world-changing history."

Starred Review, School Library Journal, December 2009:
"History comes alive in this vivid account.”

Starred Review, Kirkus Reviews, November 15, 2009:
“Civil rights can be a difficult topic, even for adults, so finding simple language to explain the complexity of injustice and oppression to children is challenging. Shelton, daughter of Andrew Young, accepts the challenge and rises to meet it...Essential.”

Review, Publishers Weekly, November 23, 2009:
“Both contributors evoke the drama and emotion of the times...and a triumphal sense of community and family.”

Editorial Reviews

Starred Review, Booklist, February 1, 2010:
"The daughter of civil rights leader Andrew Young remembers her family’s active role in the civil rights movement, beginning when she was four years old...Many adults will want to talk about their memories of the time, and kids will appreciate the child’s intimate viewpoint of world-changing history."

Starred Review, School Library Journal, December 2009:
"History comes alive in this vivid account.”

Starred Review, Kirkus Reviews, November 15, 2009:
“Civil rights can be a difficult topic, even for adults, so finding simple language to explain the complexity of injustice and oppression to children is challenging. Shelton, daughter of Andrew Young, accepts the challenge and rises to meet it...Essential.”

Review, Publishers Weekly, November 23, 2009:
“Both contributors evoke the drama and emotion of the times...and a triumphal sense of community and family.

From the Publisher

Two parents decide to return with their three daughters to the Deep South during the time of the Freedom Riders, the early 1960s, returning to Georgia where Jim Crow laws exist. The family tests these laws by going to a Holiday Inn restaurant where they are refused entry. Despite the little girl's cries and her mother's pleas, the restaurant staff turns them away. "Uncle Martin" and the girl's father work together for the civil rights movement. Shelton, the author/narrator of this account, is Andrew Young's daughter, and she reveals a child's perspective of this historic time in American history. Her gentle and poetic words deftly accompany the pencil drawings, whose soft colors show warm scenes of a child being held or carried while balancing the serious events happening. An endnote provides more detail about the people mentioned in the book and sources that were used. Although the vocabulary makes this book a wonderful early elementary choice, the information at the end could also be read by middle school readers. Shelton's unique perspective and concise writing give an understanding glimpse into the significant events of the Civil Rights Movement. Reviewer: Elizabeth Fronk

Children's Literature - Elizabeth Fronk