John Lewis, distinguished U.S. Congressman representing Georgia’s fifth district, has played an important role as a civil rights leader for many, many
years. Preaching to the Chickens: The
Story of Young John Lewis lays the foundation for understanding his faith
and his determination to speak out for justice in every context. Jabari Asim’s
book begins: “Little John Lewis loved the spring…Spring was just right” for
welcoming little chicks to the world. Everyone on John’s family farm in
southern Alabama had to work hard, and John loved the responsibility of taking
care of the chickens. He was a member of a devout family; Sunday was when his
family and friends joined together in celebration and praise. It felt natural
to him to share affirming verses with his own flock, spreading his arms just
like the preacher, blessing his chickens and exhorting them to keep the peace
as they scrabbled over their barnyard breakfast. Young John had the confidence
to believe he could share his good words with many beyond his home. “He hoped
that his words would stir people’s souls and move them to action.” And indeed
they have. An author’s endnote carries the story of Lewis’s childhood forward
to his role as a Freedom Rider protesting the segregation of black and white
travelers in 1961, as chair of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
dedicated to working toward equality for all, as a leader in the 1963 March on
Washington and standing with demonstrators on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma
in 1965. Asim quotes Lewis from his memoir: “I never really saw myself as a
leader in the traditional sense of the word. I saw myself as a participator, an
activist, a doer.” E. B. Lewis’s illustrations are as full of light and positive
energy as young John’s hopes. Ages 5-8.
John Lewis’s March trilogy, winner of the
National Book Award for Young People's Literature, provides
a deep and complex look at the Civil Rights movement and its sources of strength
in the people it encompassed. These graphic-format books, written
collaboratively with Andrew Aydin
and Nate Powell, provide readers a vivid account of “what democracy looks like”
in the cauldron of social action. Ages 12 to adult.
