Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Photo courtesy of Wiki Commons

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Imagine
How
A single
Voice
Echoes
Across
Decades
Repeating
Equality
And justice
Matter

~ J. Patrick Lewis, 

from Countdown to Summer: 

A Poem for Every Day of the School Year

I love this powerful acrostic poem by Lewis.  Notice how the first letter of each word spells out Dr. King's famous line, "I have a dream...."  Things have changed in our society since he gave that speech, but equality and justice still matter, and we still need to work to bring both of them to our world.

***

I would also like to share this book that I noticed on our library's display table the other day:

Martin's Big Words:
The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,
written by Doreen Rappaport
and illustrated by Bryan Collier, 2001

This biographical picture book introduces Dr. King to young children, telling of his life and his dream for our nation and world.  Rappaport weaves quotes ("big words") from Dr. King's speeches and writings into her text while Collier uses collage to create his striking illustrations.  Whether used in a classroom or at home, this book is a great tool to help teach kids about this important, influential man.

Wishing you all a happy, peaceful MLK Day!