A Picture Book of Martin Luther King, Jr. [Paperback]

David A. Adler (Author), Robert Casilla (Illustrator)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Live Oak Media (March 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0874995698
• ISBN-13: 978-0874995695
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)

More About the Author

I write both fiction and non-fiction. I begin my fiction with the main character. The story comes later. Of course, since I'll be spending a lot of time with each main character, why not have him or her be someone I like? Andy Russell is based, loosely, on a beloved member of my family. He's fun to write about and the boy who inspired the character is even more fun to know. Cam Jansen is based even more loosely on a classmate of mine in the first grade whom we all envied because we thought he had a photographic memory. Now, especially when my children remind me of some promise they said I made, I really envy Cam's amazing memory. I have really enjoyed writing about Cam Jansen and her many adventures. For my books of non-fiction I write about subjects I find fascinating. My first biography was Our Golda: The Life of Golda Meir. To research that book, I bought a 1905 set of encyclopedia. Those books told me what each of the places Golda Meir lived in were like when she lived there. I've written many other biographies, including books about Martin Luther King, Jr; George Washington; Abraham Lincoln; Helen Keller; Harriet Tubman; Anne Frank; and many others in my Picture Book Biography series. I've been a Yankee and a Lou Gehrig fan for decades so I wrote Lou Gehrig: The Luckiest Man. It's more the story of his great courage than his baseball playing. Children face all sorts of challenges and it's my hope that some will be inspired by the courage of Lou Gehrig. I am working now on another book about a courageous man, Janusz Korczak. My book One Yellow Daffodil is fiction, too, but it's based on scores of interviews I did with Holocaust survivors for my books We Remember the Holocaust, Child of the Warsaw Ghetto, The Number on My Grandfather's Arm, and Hiding from the Nazis. The stories I heard were compelling. One Yellow Daffodil is both a look to the past and to the future, and expresses my belief in the great spirit and strength of our children. I love math and was a math teacher for many years, so it was fun for me to write several math books including Fraction Fun, Calculator Riddles, and Shape Up! Fun with Triangles and Other Polygons. In my office I have this sign, "Don't Think. Just Write!" and that's how I work. I try not to worry about each word, even each sentence or paragraph. For me stories evolve. Writing is a process. I rewrite each sentence, each manuscript, many times. And I work with my editors. I look forward to their suggestions, their help in the almost endless rewrite process. Well, it's time to get back to dreaming, and to writing, my dream of a job. David A. Adler is the author of more than 175 children's books, including the Young Cam Jansen series. He lives in Woodmere, New York.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Learn about Martin Luther King, Jr. for young readers, November 3, 2003

By 

Vanessa Clark (Upland, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Picture Book of Martin Luther King, Jr. (Picture Book Biography) (Paperback)

This book will be enjoyed by all students. It really speaks from the heart and instead of continually writing on all the negative stuff that authors seem to write on, i really think that Adler focused on writing on all the positive things that King did for the nation. The book was beautifully written.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent first biography, April 6, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: A Picture Book of Martin Luther King, Jr. (Picture Book Biographies) (Hardcover)

The entire "A picture book of..." biography series byDavid Adler is outstanding. Perfect for lower elementary studentsdoing their first real report. Makes a great read-aloud for non-readers as they are easily completed in one sitting. They are loaded with information including a timeline of important dates. The illustrations in this book are not cartoon-like as in his other biographies of Washington or Lincoln, but are appealing to young children.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My daughter loves this book, January 8, 2007

By 

Michele Wright "Seize the day" (United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Picture Book of Martin Luther King, Jr. (Picture Book Biography) (Paperback)

My five-year-old daughter was fascinated with this book even though it didn't include fairies, animals, or dinosaurs. I was very happy with the information they presented which gives some basic information about Dr. King while not treating his death in such a way that might overly upset sensitive children like mine. The illustrations are wonderfully done and my daughter looked them over carefully for a long time. It is a wonderful opportunity to launch more discussions about racism and the way we treat other people because of their gender, race, or religion.